Half Life : A Grim Hope
by Discet
Summary: My story based several years before Half Life 2 and will fallow through and beyond Episode 2. The main twist is that Portal's Chell will play a role throughout the story. Several Relationships. Rated T for language
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: This is my first Half Life or Portal Fanfic. I am sorry if my HL1 Info is sketchy but I used a timeline from here ****.****. I took some of my own idea/theories from Portal and Half Life. Certain places may be extended to bring new aspects to it, others may be shortened if I believe it won't progress the story. If I hadn't scarred you off by now please enjoy **

**Warning: I do not own Half Life or Portal except for the copies I own. It is owned by the Valve Corporation. **

* * *

Half Life : A Grim Hope

* * *

Chapter 1: Escape

* * *

A voice boomed over Chell who now found herself in some kind of maintenance room for the turrets there appeared to be one which was almost operational but just didn't seem to fire others lied on the ground as crumpled heaps. The one operation one seemed to just open up as it always did and just said in an innocent voice "there you are" she watched as it desperately tried to find her and she just pushed it over and in just as innocent voice it commented "I don't blame you" She stood over it simply shaking her head in sadness "You're not a good person! You know that, right! Good people don't end up here!" Chell as earlier ignored the voice enjoying the rise of anger in a computer that had tortured her for the last weeks. Ever since she discovered the hideouts she had taken advantage of all of them. Stayed as long as she could; drank the water, ate the beans. Calmly figuring out each of the puzzles. She always attempted to use any one of the many abandoned computers she found but there was never a usable monitor to use them on. All of them just seemed to be some kind of recipe

She began to think back to a week earlier; or at least what felt like a week earlier she had no clue how long the crazy robot had kept her in that bed like contraption. When she looked at herself through the portal she hadn't aged she was still in her early twenties. She was nothing but a part time employee but everyone treated her as one of there own. She even remembered her first day at the enrichment center one year ago…

* * *

She was in a room for new people, she was the only one in there but she could tell it was made to hold many other people comfortably. "Welcome to the Aperture Science Enrichment Center" a slim man in a white coat announced walking through a circular door

Chell stood from the orange coach with the ever so familiar Aperture Science logo "Hello, hehe it's funny I thought that with the reputation of this place I figured some kind of computer would give me the tour" she gave a small smile to the man. He had small oval shaped glasses and brown messy hair. He held a clip board with papers on it

"Well normally it would but it's currently going through a slight AI upgrade" He flipped through some of the papers on his clip board "well Ms... Chell Legends it says here you will be our part time mechanic in our… portable turret defense division?" He looked up from his clipboard to see her reaction they were light blue

For a moment she said nothing just looking at him until she realized the now awkward time gap "Umm YES I… will be…" she stated her voice growing smaller over the course of the sentence. She nervously pushed her two index fingers together out of embarrassment.

The scientist looked at her and a small laughed emerged "Its okay were all nervous on our first day" he reassured her putting a hand on her shoulder. This only made her more embarrassed

'_**Damn it why am I acting like this?**_' She shrugged off the hand and pushed back her black hair "So are you going to show me around this place?"

"Sure things fallow me" He smiled walking through automated circular door revealing a treadmill that seemed to span the entire hallway with a glass structure doming it all to reveal the wonders beyond it. She looked up seeing that there were boxes with windows which she could only assume were rooms. This was only countered by the tubes seeming to easily deliver any thing to anything else. She looked amaze keeping her gaze toward the ceiling the pure massiveness of the place. There seemed to be a never ending of shining silver railways connecting all the rooms with what could only be described as a 3D railway to get to anywhere faster it was truly a sight to behold. As they reached the end of the hall they walked into a room it was closed with a few guys watching monitors there were three doors one needing some kind of access

"Wow that was… amazing" Chell said incredulously

"Hmm what?" the unnamed scientist queried "Oh no that wasn't the facility that's just some smoke and mirrors for the tourists or investors" he said with a small laugh.

One of the guards decided to take interest "You fell for that?" the guard said laughing at Chell who now realized she embarrassed herself yet again. She looked down and to the left; to on lookers it may look as if she was upset and ready to break down when in actuality…

'_**Don't assault him. You need this job you need this job you need this job**_' she repeated to her self as she walked next to the scientist who was now at the locked door. She opened her eyes to see him swap a card through a slot then put his eyes into some kind of box. Some light scanned his eyes then he pulled back and the door opened it revealed a small hallway with what appeared to be an elevator "See ya Grease Monkey". She nearly doubled back to assult him They walked through the door which quickly closing behind them.

"Sorry about that, he gets his kicks by making fun of people" he said walking toward the elevator "Well at least it's good to know it worked on you"

"What's that supposed to mean?" she said insulted staring intently at the scientist

"Well you seem like a smart person and if that simulation could fool you then it will fool any of the idiots who usually walk in here" The elevator opened for them

"Oh… thanks" Chell had a very light blush from the comment before she finally realized something "Wait you never told me your name"

"Oh I apologize it's Rhys Galaway" they walked through the threshold of the elevator as she looked to him with an evil grin

"That's an odd name"

"ya well… CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

* * *

The Computers voice brought her back from her daydreams '_**Right I can reminisce after I escape from this place**_' She looked around the room and found a wrench and a clamp '_**Damn even if I bring this along those passages would just vaporize it… Unless**_' she looked at the wrench and awkwardly place it in between her shirt and her skin '_**hopefully that ill keep it from vaporizing**_' she looked around trying to find a way out of the room she was in. the metal bars leading to the next floor were rusted off so she looked to the small out cove she was in and found a portable wall. She shot a orange portal above a cube transportation tube she then shot one below her ending up on top of the tube. From there she could see another portable wall and shot another blue one to then jump into the orange portal. '_**Next**_'.

* * *

Alyx Vance, perhaps one of the youngest humans alive, being only a small child when the Resonance Cascade occurred. She was about 23 now and one of the unknown leaders of the resistance. Anyone who ever met her remembered her just as an equal regardless if she was commanding them. Currently she was stationed somewhere between Black Mesa East and City 17. Conducting raiding missions on the small Combine outposts. She would then distribute the supplies to the watch posts even though most go to Black Mesa East. She was the daughter of the famous Eli Vance perhaps the second most legendary man of the resistance; second only to the hero of Black Mesa Gordon Freeman, also known as 'The Last Free Man' by the Vortigaunts knew him as. This annoyed

'_**My father is the spine of this movement, without him it would all fall apart. Regardless this Freeman somehow has become the hero. He hasn't even been seen since the Black Mesa incident, and that was over 19 years ago, the guy's probably dead.**_' She sighed carrying a box of supplies as rain poured on her. '_**But as long as long as he inspires people he's fine in my book… too bade he's just a myth otherwise he could really jump start this rebellion**_' She looked to her right to see what could only be described as a ghost building. A resistance ghost story. It was a rotting building but strangely enclosed no blast off walls just the makeup that only time can give. There have been several attempts to get supplies out of the place, no one ever comes back; or that's how the story went '_**Still you can never know which are the stories and which are the real horrors**_' her group continued in their march on the abandoned road. She took one last look at the building '_**Aperture Science Enrichment Center I should ask dad about that**_'

* * *

Chell walked to the end of what seemed to be a dead end hall to find another magnetically sealed door, a few pipes and the smell of rotting sewage another mysterious marking on the wall of a bloody arrow pointing to a water drain. '_**Whoever was here before me got this far I can get farther**_' she carefully shot a portal to a wall luckily able to have a portal work on it. She shot one to a wall to the side of her and walked through to find a irrigation system and a 1 inch thick sewage making it difficult to move in she could barley see any of the massive room above her. The only thing she could make out was 4 massive columns and plenty of railways above rusted just like everything else in this building. She placed a portal on a column walking through the portal next to her; the room was like an open cube. There were plenty of turret doors. She looked around and let out a sigh of relief '_**Thank god there are no more of those damn cameras she… It probably doesn't even know I'm here**_' She took a closer look at the place '_**Hey I know this place, this is the final test for the military androids**_' she heard a loud beep from above her and panic set in '_**No no no no no no no**_' simultaneously all 10 of the doors opened to reveal as many turrets searching for a prey '_**SHIT**_' under fire she dashed to her portal back to the drain and shot one as a bullet soared past her face she jumped back to be back in the sewer pit she shot both halves of the portal in front of her to avoid any more fire she decided to rest. Even that monster couldn't reach her here. Sweat dripped from her brow, her breath heavy. '_**How did I get here?**_'

* * *

"Where are we going now?" Chell asked seeing the giant 'SECTION C' sign over the massive magnetic door.

"This is the largest part of the building where both of our departments will be so I thought we should get to that first" he slipped a card into a slot to the side of the door. The doors unlock revealing the chaos inside. People running back and forward with broken scraps of metal and papers going around everywhere

"What is this place?" She said to both horror and disbelief

Making a grand gesture Rhys outstretched his arms walking back into the throng of the mess "This is…" he took in a breath for effect "The Enrichment Center's Testing of Military and New Technologies!" he said with a smile "Better known as C-Sec"

Chell gave a small laugh at his goofiness walking into the room the room slowly closing behind her. She walked a few steps before a guy in a rollie chair with a lab coat riddled with oil splotches sped in front of her papers flying from his hands. He had brown hair with blue dyed tips. 3 other burocrats ran after him trying to get the papers back

"This is the bureaucracy part of it so naturally it chaotic I promise it cools down as we go farther in" He said with his arms now coming down feeling more and more foolish. "Fallow me" he said dodging by as many people as possible

She fallowed in suit dodging by people to get into yet another elevator honestly is that the only way they get around. "So where next?" She said sarcastically the tour not being very impressive so far

He looked slyly at her "The testing chamber" he said simply

She just shrugged both waited as the doors quickly slid open revealing a much neater environment nice shining walking platforms with nice clean clear water below them seeming to move around. Most likely powering this section of the building. They walked into a room with a couple of monitors and scientists inputting some sort of data, one of them acknowledged their entrance the other simply kept his eyes on the screen. There were two smaller rooms with mirrors the size of the wall that occupied it. She quickly walked into one of the rooms inside the window was two turrets. They were basically tripods with guns attached. They were structurally weak any one walking by would knock it over by accident. It appeared to be a training course and sure enough a robot… no more of android came crashing through easily decapitating each mounted gun with ease. "This is what I'm gonna be fixin?" She said disappointed

"Well… ya we go through them like crackers so we need people to fix them"

She sighed "I guess it's a part time job for a reason"

"Here I'll show you your room"

* * *

Chell looked up at the toxic water which was once pure, and only one question kept coming up '_**How long have I been gone?**_' She then decided to think of a way out of here instead of happier days. '_**Ok these still seem to be based on the older models, so they can be pushed over each of the rooms were small but would provide cover to ditch each turret over the side, one by one they will topple and I can move on**_'She once again shot a portal to through the water drain and quickly if not immediately shot a portal to the first turret she saw just before the bullets flew he was behind the little turret with the portal gun she picked it up and threw it over the side. She saw another turret across the room. She gave a small smile as she shot a portal to her next victim. As she planned they each fell she was nearly shot a couple times, one unfortunately found its mark in her arm. Luckily though it went clear through the muscle making no lasting wound she closed it up with some cloth from her pant leg. She used the ever useful double jump to fly to her destination at the top of the room where there was yet another out cove not occupied by turrets… or so she thought. As if a last line of defense two more turrets dropped down by the metallic claw. Her adrenaline was still pumping hard and she quickly shot a portal under both of them they met in the middle clanged. Shooting wildly any way they were facing. They then settled on the ground said they're child like goodbyes and closed there red eye faded. She fired a portal in the hell of a room she was just in then under each of the turrets to be rid of them. She looked up from a square opening above her none of the ceiling was portable she looked beneath her at the portal then up '_**if you go out faster horizontally then it should work the other way right?**_'

She thought quickly and ran back and jumped out of the out cove and watched as the ground approached her and at the last moment shot a single portal to the ground flinging her with more then enough momentum to land on the floor once above her. She looked to a rail way above. A week ago this would have been a conundrum now it was child's play. Walking confidently she shot a portal to the upper level and one below her appearing on the other side. Then walked through the door finding herself on one of the many catwalks she saw earlier. '_**I'm approaching the end… I can feel it**_' excitement filled her as she approached the door in the out cove at the end of the hall. She looked over the side seeing some of the discarded turrets. She opened the door expecting yet another army. But there wasn't one just a hallway a nice clean hallway. She walked down it adrenaline settling down to a buzz of worry. She found at the end there were two paths one more promising to advance her progress but a window drew her to the other one. She looked inside to find a slideshow. It was a conference room with chairs and a… COMPUTER. Info finally she could find something out. She nearly slammed the Portal Gun into the window but she couldn't risk the gun for this so she looked back to find another rollie chair she gently put the gun down grabbed the chair and slammed it into the window. A small crack was what she got for her effort. She tried again. A ripple appeared along the center. She used all her strength and slammed it one last time. The window shattered to pieces most of it ending up of the other side. '_**Time for some answers**_'

* * *

Alyx's group was approaching Black Mesa East the current base for the North American Resistance. All the supplies had made it there. med kits, food, and clean (non mind erasing) water. As soon as everything and everyone was accounted for she headed up to her dads lab.

"Alyx your back, good" Eli limped; his leg had been replaced by a crow bar.

"Dad don't you think we should replace your leg with something a little more advanced then a piece of metal?" Alyx said jokingly

Eli just smiled "Hey if this thing was good enough to get me out Black Mesa then it should be plenty ok to use in a lab"

"Fine whatever" Alyx said with an air of sarcasm "Hey dad what was Aperture Science?" Te question startled Eli and he almost dropped his folder filled with papers

"That dear is a loaded question sweetie" Eli said hoping to have the question dropped "Well what do you know about it?"

"Well I know that they supposedly created the _Borealis_, but that's just a legend " She said listing things on each of her fingers "They were around the same time as Black Mesa… and that they have some kind of center down the road… That's just about it" she ended her list with a simple shrug

Eli wrote down some info he got off of some portal information "Well your right. They're actually Black Mesa's rival… it was like America and USSR in the space race except we were going for portal technology"

"USSR?… and the continent of America had a race to create more space?" Alyx said trying to understand

"That's right you never learned about them sorry the United States and the country Russia had a race to reach outer space first, it was a competition that spanned several years which ended when the United States landed a man on the moon, but that's all beside the point. We were each trying to create a new way to travel easily since Hubert predicted that the oil would run out eventually. Even though most tried to ignore it many of us banded together and started on a solution. Soon the government wanted to monopolize on this endeavor and created the Black Mesa Facility. Soon enough Aperture Science got wind of it and the competition started. From what we heard before the Resonance Cascade they nearly finished a working portal this pushed us to be… reckless and made us continue with a test that could be disastrous… I don't have to tell you how disastrous it was" He left that hang in the air

"Dad it wasn't your fault" Not quite believing it herself

"No it was all our fault. We were too competitive and ended up harming everyone" he limped to his desk and pulled out a box concealed behind his desk. It had a large red circular mechanism, wires, a chip and a metal bulb. Alyx almost squealed in excitement

"I… Is that… D0G's new…" She said smiling pointing with a shaking finger to the hunk of metal, her eyes shining.

"Yep its D0G's eye, AI, and memory core"

Alyx gave a huge smile and attached herself to Eli wrapping her arms around him. Causing him to almost trip with only one good leg to support him "THANKYOU THANK YOU

"Careful honey I'm not as young or balanced as I used to be" He said smiling, Alyx more focused on making sure he doesn't fall then showing affection pulled back

"Sorry" she heaved the piece of metal from the ground and quickly made her way to where she kept D0G.

There really wasn't much that Alyx got excited about, but D0G was one of them. In fact she was a popular person in the rebellion not to mention being one of the youngest person because of the suppression field. Most people either drank, trained, or remembered the 'good old days' there were few people who she could relate with. The one thing she did love to do was working with machines, and D0G was something that filled her with joy, since a young age she loved her metallic bodyguard. Originally Eli built him to protect her whenever he had to talk with other rebels also as a playmate. It was kind to Alyx and was hostile to everything else. First time he saw this was when a soda fell off a desk bumping on a young Alyx. He assaulted it crushed into bits and through it aside. This was soon corrected with a new AI to only attack things like Head Crabs, Antlions, and Combine. Watching her dad fix up D0G brought Alyx into the wonderful world of mechanics. By age 9 she attempted to attach a pistol onto each of D0Gs shoulders she was stopped by Barney which led her to a new approach. She decided to instead make dog bigger and stronger. He became so big or had too many gears and his AI couldn't handle the excess mechanisms. That time had come so she asked Eli to give him and upgrade. The memory core conveniently enough was to store his memories and use the new AI.

She came to a fork in the road she knew the way but one of them led to a rebel community Ravenholme. A man in a white robe stood at the entrance near some guards. He noticed Alyx and came over to her saying goodbye to the guards "Miss Alyx Vance how are you my child"

"Just fine Father Grigori" She used her knee to quickly prop up the box of metal which seemed to grow heavier as she stood there "-but this box is heavy and I need to get it to dog-"

"Think no more child I will let you get back to your work, as I will get back to mine" He retreated back down heading back to the Rebel village of Ravenholme

Alyx watched the man head back to his town. Soon though she realized how heavy the box she was carrying was and continued to the clearing at Black Mesa East. About two years ago D0G got inconveniently big and so in every base they used they found a place to have D0G rest. They had been at Black Mesa East for a while now and so Aylx had set shop there she even set up a computer out there. She made her way to the scrap yard… well it's the scrap yard now right now there was nothing there but a broken washing machine and a few bolts littering the ground. She made her way to the much larger opening where a over sized dog house stood. Or that's what she was told it was. She really didn't know what a real dog house was like, any dog she had seen were running loose.

"D0G… D0G come out boy" She called out placing the box on the dirt ground. A soft read light shown in the darkness of the dog house, and just as quickly it vanished. "Come on boy you can't move like that let me help" D0G quickly tried to dash away from the area attempting to run up the mountain wall. This did not work. He successfully imbedded his hand into the side of the wall but the other one slammed into his own head making him fall to the ground. A small groan was let out by the robot as it laid on its back. "How about now?" Alyx said sarcastically standing over D0G. Groaning he shook his head up and down for yes. Alyx opened up the head capsule and placed a key in a slot that had writing in black sharpie reading, POWER DOWN in an arching fashion. "I'll see you in a little bit ok" an understanding moan is the response she receives. She twists the key in the slot letting the entire body power down. She placed her hands on D0Gs Processor and memory core now unlocked. Previously protected by 5 in thick cube of metal. She quickly replaced the processor with no problem double checking to make sure each wire was perfectly inserted. '_**Ok now for the hard drive**_' She brought the memory core to her computer and hooked it up using now antique computer from 1998. Regardless of the circumstances some of the scientists have been able to update the computers with combine tec. A screen appeared with 3 options on it.

Windows ME

Mac

Custom: Memory Transfer

She hooked up both the memory cores into the computer, the old one in the blue socket and the new one in the red. She clicked memory transfer. She waited five minutes until finally a one percent appeared she ducked her head into her arms in a annoyed gesture. '_**It took 4 minutes the first time I did this**_' A small screen appeared on the screen with a beep '_**Damn it it takes twice as long with anythi-**_' it was a message box

'_Come back to the Lab something is happening at Aperture_'

* * *

Mind numbed Chell continued to search the database held in the computer projected on the wall. She was looking for something specific and would notice it right away. She found a entire section made for personnel profiles. It was divided into sections, Mechanics, Programming, Testing, Cleaners. She went to programming nearly as soon as she saw the folder. That split it up to computer programming, Mechanics programming, and a few others she didn't bother reading before clicking computer programming to find Rhys's portfolio. A smile comes over her face and a faded red blush to her cheeks. She finnaly got back on task and got to the mechanic's section searching for hers but came across another's Skye Macalister '_**Crazy son of a bitch**_'

* * *

*Crink*

"hm" Chell looked back at the turret she was working on to find a plate to start to slide "no…NO!" the thing fell apart breaking down completely. A lone nut rolled across the floor to settle in front of her. "GOD DAMNIT, USLESS PIECIES OF CRAP" She aimed and kicked the nut into the wall. She heard the door open behind her to find Rhys standing there

"need a break?" He said with a slightly worried look on his face

Chell breathed out and breathed in deep, she walked to a desk and grabbed a pencil and a notebook. "Sure lets grab some dinner"

"Its 7 o'clock in the morning"

"Really" She said incredulous and rubbing her eyes

"You should get some sleep Chell"

"If these turrets didn't come in by the shit load I would of" Chell looked at Rhys and realized he had nothing to do with the turrets and just cared about her "Sorry I seriously need some caffeine… or to be knocked out"

It was Chell's 3rd week at the Aperture Science Enrichment Center or ASEC. With only one week left she was looking forward to the 100 grad she was going to receive after next week. Still she had mixed feelings about leaving the place. Sure it was long and hard work, but she got 3 square meals(at least , and a place to sleep. But she was going to miss one thing most of all. She looked back at her companion '_**Rhys…**_' her eyes looking upon him softly

"Chell?" She said repeatedly shaking his hand in front of her "You alright?"

She swiped his hand away both chuckling "Ya come on lets head to the cafeteria" She headed out the door and immediately shielded her eyes she worked in the dark mostly and well the rest of the complex was lit like the surface of the sun. "Crap"

"You need me to guide you?" Rhys said obviously trying to annoy her

"Shud up" She placed her flat hand to her forehead in a salute to keep the bright light out of her face

Before they could make progress to the cafeteria one of the scientist yelled across the hall "Hey there Grease Monkey"

Chell clenched her fist in anger trying her best to not kill the man '_**Must… surpress… murderous… rage…**_' somehow the nickname had spread thoroughly through C-Sec.

Rhys saw this and decided to intercept "Shut up you jackass" He said to the scientist before she attacked the man. Then something happened it was almost unnoticeable maybe even non-existent but there was a smile on Chells face.

"Come on lets head to the cafeteria" They both finally ended up at the cafeteria it was a large room with hundreds of tables all around. It was the food source for everyone at the enrichment center. There were 100 to 200 people there and that was slow for this place. They decided to sit one table away from the window. Chell becoming ever more aware of her own exhaustion laid on the table using one of her arms to prop herself up.

A menu seemed to appear glowing under them showing them options. Rhys easily and quickly tapped to bacon and eggs. Chell on the other hand, squinted her eyes to avoid the bright light of the menu. She went to drinks and tapped drinks then coffee. It came up with 5 different styles and she just picked black. Then it came to 5 different beans and she just picked one not really caring as long as it had caffeine. Both of the screens simply said banked thank you.

This was fallowed by a time of quiet until a sound came from under the table as something started to rise. A circle spiraled open revealing for a second a darkness of the underground. This was soon replaced by half of a rising circle with bacon and eggs. "Where's my coffee" Chell questioned grumpily She lifted her head to look down to see something had broken "damn IT ALL" She rose and started searching the half of a hole in the table venturing for her coffee"

"Chell don't-" Rhys was cut off by something happening near the entrance to the room. A rising screen approached from the door, not one of panic but of excitement as the guy with blue tiped hair came charging through the door

"GET BACK HERE" A security guard announced getting through the door way as well.

Come on it has to be tested; he seemed to have some contraption on his leg he was thin but looked athletic

Chell looked up '_**Testing out of testing environment… That causes things to break… WHICH I HAVE TO FIX**_' Chell giving up on the coffee got in between the man and what seemed to be his destination of the large room encompassing window that spanned the length and width of the wall.

"Get out of the way" Said the man with some sort of accent she frankly didn't care that which it was. "Oh a game of chicken this'll be fun.

Chell found herself pressed against the window only half paying attention. He charged and hit into her breaking the section of glass both of them flying out of the building. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" came the continuous noise from Chell as they plummeted. The man on the other hand was calm and held out his hand grabbing hers slowly pulling her towards him. Eventually holding onto her while she on the other hand was panicking

"I HOPE THIS WORKS. They continued the ground coming ever closer. He bended his legs for impact.

In a moment it was over… they were fine a burst of energy from the fot wear and she was fine Chell was in shock while the man on the other hand was excited "Yes it worked, he looked up to the people now investigating through the broken square of a window. "WERE FINE" He yelled up. Chell looked at the man and scrambled free from his arms getting to her feet " Are you CRAZY you nailed me through a window to test your new" She gestured to his feet "Whatever that is I could have died, WE COULD HAVE DIED"

His face looked guilty but some how happy at the same time until he looked at his palms which were wet and red… Blood red he lifted her hands to her and she stopped and felt her back where blood was seeping freely out… "You son of a…" Her vision blurred and she descended into unconsciousness

* * *

"WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID HAHAHAHAHAHAHA" Annoyed Chell rose from her seat she couldn't search though the whole thing she took out a USB she'd found baqck in the computer room and plugged it into the computer she was using. She just dumped the entire C-Sec personnel Files into it. She stuffed it down her shirt like what she did with the wrench. She climbed out of the broken hole of glass for a window and walked down the hall. Each step feeling like a final triumph to defeating her foe She opened the door and looked down to see something dangling from the ceiling lit up by a few balls with a different colors. She walked down the hall the portal gun in her hand and her objective in sight. Before crossing the threshold she stopped and thought. '_**The only reason I got this far was the messages left by all the previous… people.**_'. She looked at her hand and used her thumb nail to dig into her pointer finger until she drew blood. She bent down on her knees and started to sketch the dangling mechanic creature. When she was finished she used what was left of the drying vein of blood to write, 'It's Her. She stood stepping over her drawing to walk into the large room steel door locking behind her. "Well you found me, Congratulations"

* * *

Alyx jogged back into the lab going to the monitors that everyone was crowding around "Dad what's going on?"

Almost unwillingly he turned around to address Alyx "Something strange is happening at the near by Aperture Science Enrichment Center"

Alyx leaned in to look at the screen of a picture turning back and forth by 60' degrees showing the front part of the center, the camera appears to be mounted on a fence that surrounded the complex "What…. Why… when did you place this?" She said observing every part of the grey image on the screen.

"We placed this here about 5 years ago, when we moved near city 17 for basic reconnaissance. This was one of the 10 that the combine didn't find" Eli limped his way back to his chair

"Ok but we replaced most of those if they were of any use. And we deactivated the originals 3 years ago why did this one stay on?" she looked down at her father trying to find an answer from him.

"A… man walked out of there 4 years ago, we couldn't set up anything again without the combine stopping us so this alone was kept on."

Alyx nodded that road could be used but there was a constant need to make sure no combine drove by and catch them all. "Wait who walked out… wait… HIM?!?!?" She looked at her father with a little fear in her eyes.

"Yes" he answered simply

She breathed out closing her eyes thinking for a moment then sighed "Ok so why do we need it on still?" she said still gathering info so she could understand. This time Judith Mossman answered trying to get her to stay quiet

"We kept it on so that if anyone like him show up again then we will be able to stop them and maybe, god willing we can get to he or she before the Combine do" Her words made an odd mix of anger and chills run up Alyx's spine.

"Fine so what's happening right now?" she said her tone implying it was her final question.

"Similar readings are appearing like when he escaped that place. Very unnatural" Eli said in a more friendly tone then Doctor Mossman was.

The grey image on the screen seemed to show the window's glow brightly "The hell….?" Alyx said as the screen started to glow brightly to the point that she was squinting

* * *

Chell looked up at the countdown clock it was slowly dropping down; it was in the last minute. She only had one more orb to grab but this one she held in mid air.

"Comeon you think you can stop me your not even a full time employee" Chell rolled her eyes '_**Your files are over a year old… or a year before I got knocked out**_' for a moment she held her head. The events before the… whatever was painful to think about unless they came naturally. '_**No. Need to focus on that there's**_' She coughed '_**Nerve gas**_' She quickly looked at the wall then at the ground and tried to guess the trajectory from the wall to the orb. She jumped into the portal in the ground and then made sure she fell into it again propelling her just over the orb. She wouldn't be able to get another shot at this, she pulled back and kicked the hell out of the orb just enough to kick it out of her grasp. She landed easily but collapsed on the kicked leg. She had hurt it apparently, she winced but looked at the time '_**30 Seconds!**_' She tried to stand but just fell again. She thought for a moment '_**Think with portals**_'. She aimed the portal device at the wall next to the incinerator and fired, then shooting another under the orb leaving it next to the closed burning pit. She then shot a orange one to the wall near the lever, she quickly fired a blue under her body dropping her near the railing. She stood on her good leg propping herself against the railing firing a blue one at the incinerator. She limped to the lever and pulled with as much strength she could muster. She quickly hopped back into the orange portal tripping out the other side. She looked at the countdown '_**10… 9…**_' She couldn't stand again and the incinerator was about to close. She picked up the orb and made a shot. It curved to the right '_**Damn it I know I'm bad at basket ball, but when the teach said I couldn't make a shot to save my life…**_' she watched as it flew hitting the bare corner causing it to drop into the incinerator as the black cover closed just behind it

'_**Yes…**_' she breathed out propping herself against the wall hearing the ramblings of GLaDOS speed to a high pitch rate. '_**Hehe die bitch…**_' she smiled weakly closing her eyes. She soon opened them as a bright light appeared above her, tearing at the walls around her. She just sat there until she started to lift off the ground. '_**Well… if this is the end… at least I brought her down with me… Sorry Rhys**_'

_**Chapter 1 End **_

* * *

**AAAAAAAAND its finished YES!!!!! I have been working on this for a few months I can never focus on anything this long. Well I know I have terrible spelling and grammar so for that I'm sorry. But I hope you enjoyed this first chapter please review. **

**Just a warning I will be slow to update, I'm just terrible at focusing so bare with me through the slow updates.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Warning: I do not own Half Life or Portal except for the copies I own. It is owned by the Valve Corporation.

* * *

**

Half Life: A Grim Hope

* * *

Chapter 2: Free Falling…

* * *

Chell for a moment drifted out of unconsciousness she saw the sky the beautiful sky... along with the falling burning wreckage of the enrichment center. She sees a rather large flaming ring fall down nearby. She struggles with all her might to stay awake, and even with everything in her body screaming 'FOR THE LOVE OF GOD TAKE COVER' she drifts into sleep.

* * *

She is now dreaming about... well nothing. She is in a blank room with nothing around her. Darker even then when you close your eyes. The room was blank and void of noise and smell. Suddenly as if by magic a light appears above her. It was a hanging lamp like one you might find in a old warehouse. She stands to her left looking around the rim of the lamp, the chain rose but never seemed to hit a ceiling. Then another light came on and another all in a straight line down.

Eventually after another three lights go on a man appears from out of the darkness, sitting in a simple wooden chair. He is wearing a nice blue suit and matching pants. He even had a buzzed down hair cut. "Hello Ms. Legends, welcome" he spoke with a dark raspy voice. "I've seen what you've done in that play pin, very impressive" she looked at him wondering who this man could be, and how did she know she was in there, why didn't he help her?. As much as she wanted to voice her opinions she couldn't speak she just stood there listening to the man. "You see I will need someone of your... talents to help one of my... clients who will be arriving soon. The world has changed dramatically since you your day" he stood turning his back to her and towards the darkness "There will be a day when I require your abilities and you will help me, or you will pay dearly for it" he started to walk out of the light. "But for now I will depart, if you don't wake up soon, you won't be much use to anyone."

* * *

Soon Chell started to awaken from her sleep, her vision returned as her eyes peeled open. She starred onto same vision she did before she fell asleep except for one thing... there appeared to be a small creature in front of her. Not like anything she had seen before, it had small stick like legs supporting what looked like a stiff blob like body. I crouched down in a jumping stance then it jumped, showing its true face. The underbelly of the creature showed a hallow shell filled with teeth. It was heading straight for her head. Adrenaline immediately pumped in her veins and she swung her arm. Just before the creature made it into arms length her, something made contact. She was surprised to see that the portal gun was still clutched in her hand. She then looked at her feet to find she also still had the shock absorbent foot ware still on as well. '_**That crazy bastard...**_' a small smile appeared on her lips. She looked over at the creature again it was dead with some strange fluid seeping out of the creature, it was motionless, dead. She looked around her to see where she was. She starred at the enrichment centers entrance. It was crumbling and broken down, vines have invaded almost every window, curling around every possible area. '_**How long have I been gone**_'

She tried to stand up but immediately felt a surging pain in her leg she remembered that she hurt it in her final battle with GLaDOS. She tried again and was able to stand putting more pressure on her good leg and started for the gate. She tried her best to walk away from the facility, her sprained leg felt like it was on fire but she continued to the gate. When she got to the gate she duct under the lowered car gate. She continued down the road every muscle in her body straining against her every step of the way... '_**I've got to keep moving**_'

* * *

Alyx watched as the smoke from the debris started to clear it had been five minutes since the climax of some sort of energy surge. Everyone was crowded around the small monitor, my father scanning the smoke for any signs of life. Soon the smoke cleared and there lied the body of a women, she was collapsed on the ground, a sigh went out from the group of people, the worst had been assumed. Then suddenly a gasp from Dr. Mossman as a head crab seemed to be eyeing the body. If she wasn't dead she would soon be a prisoner in her own body.

The body seemed to stir for a moment and the head crab prepared for the kill. '_**She's alive!**_' Not a moment before the head crab was going to 'cuddle' with her head she sprang sitting up and making contact slamming the small creature away with some king of gun in her hand. She looked around and started to walk out of the shot looking confused and limping. I finally had enough of the silence "We need to help her shes going to be captured"

Dr. Mossman seemed to have a different plans "No Alyx it's too dangerous for you" she said in her smug voice as if she was her mother _**You're not my mother, and you never will be**_.

"We have to do something; she's hurt for gods sake" I responded with more vindication then I'd like.

"No you just got back from your supply raid" she said

Eli, my father seemed to have the final say in this conversation "No Judith she's right"

"What?" me and Mossman said at the same time. It was odd for my father to agree to let me go on a mission, or to disagree with Mossman

"The gun she's holding may be the invention Aperture Science was working on before the portal storm" Eli said rewinding the film to study the object more closely "Get a squad together and go find her Alyx"

"Great thanks dad" before Mossman could get a word in edgewise I ran for the door and went to the barracks that were really just some storage rooms with some old mattresses in them.

I walked into on of the rooms and walked in. there were six people all in some old cloths, three were just laying on their beds resting, one was reading a ratty old book, and the last two were listening to something on a near broken CD player. This was a lucky occasion, on average at least one person was reading a moldy old 'Playboy' magazine or something similar. "Come on guys we got a mission" They got dressed and grabbed some guns and we were off. '_**I'm gonna find you whoever you are**_'.

* * *

Chell was now walking the length of the broken down highway that was chipped away, she refused to use the portal gun wanting to save the power for an emergency. She was trying to save whatever battery or energy was stored in here for emergencies. She was somewhere in eastern Europe, Belgium maybe? She couldn't remember for the life of her where she was. She just kept trudging down the road. Each step she felt a surge of pain from her leg.

After about an hour and a half of walking she heard something come from behind her, she turned her head and saw a whole bunch of people running towards her... with guns. She raised the portal device '_**Crap**_' She held it as a gun towards them as a weapon. "Stay back" The group came to a halt about 5 feet away from away from her, the women in front who appeared to be the leader stepped forward. She came unthreateningly with her hands raised.

"Were not here to hurt you, were part of the resistance." She said as if to put me at ease '_**Rebels? In Europe? how long have I been gone?**_' she moved closer "Now just put down the gun and-"

"I said to stay back" She barked not really trying to reason with them as to buy her some time. She turned around and shot a blue portal at such an angle to get the most distance. She fired too high and it flew off out of eyesight As soon as the device notified her that the portal had connected she shot a orange portal right under her feet.

As Chell started to drop through the cement Alyx's eyes lit up '_**Portal…**_' without thinking she ran and jumped through the portal after her. Just as she first felt the experience of diving upwards the portal closed behind her. She landed hard on the ground and knew she would be feeling that later.

"Thank god you're here" She heard Chell say confused why she was glad she was fallowed but then she heard a hallowing voice through a muffled electronic voice "Please put the gun on the ground" Alex looked up to see a group of combine, all pointing sub-machine guns at both her and Chell. Alyx looked horrified at her situation, she looked up at Chell who looked confused "Wh-what's wrong office-" the combine squad affirmed their aim on Chell, and repeated "Put down the gun" he said as cold and calculated as before. Chell carefully placed the portal gun on the ground raising her hands. Alyx thought briefly about running for her life, back to her rebel squad. But then Chell would be captured, and the combine would have portal technology. Alyx slowly raised off the ground hands raised.

* * *

Chell looked down at the ground confused as hell at to what was going on. She looked down at the handcuffs she was wearing. A band of energy connecting the two metal restraints. She looked to her left where there was a heavily armored… man? Who was keeping an eye on the girl in front of her. She studied the girl in front of her, she defiantly didn't fit her image of a 'rebel'. She defiantly looked roughed up but not some kind of cold hearted killer. She sat there for a few minutes before looking out the window. Hundreds of feet off the ground she was trapped in a fortified helicopter. Quietly wondering if she escaped the pan only to end up in the fire. She was pulled out of her own thoughts by her fellow, unarmored inmate in this flying prison.

"Some mess you got us in her jumpsuit" Alyx said with some disdain for the girl.

Chell looked at the girl and shot her a look "Well this is what you get when you're a rebel" she said with a superior sense of morality

Alyx looked at her in disbelief, not everyone was brave enough to join the rebellion but everyone, _**Everyone**_ believed in the cause. She looked pissed "What the fuck is wrong with you? **Bloody Combine Lover**" she said not believing the words were coming out of her mouth.

Chell rolled her eyes resting her head on her hand, which was propped on her knee "Combine… nice name, dehumanizing a bunch of government officials" she said feeling she was on the right track to understanding what was going on.

Alyx looked at her with a dumbfounded look on his face "… I don't have to dehumanize them… their not human…" she said with a look of absolute seriousness on her face. She looked at Chell up and down "…Where have you been for the last twenty years?" she asked with a worried look on her face. Was she really trapped in that old building for her entire life?

Chell heard her words and wasn't sure what she meant; but she could hear the emotion in her voice. She was about to speak when the two 'Combine' soldiers turned to them and in the same, deep electronic voice spoke "Quiet Humans" Chell's eyes went wide with fear, forget what country she was in, what fucking world did she drop into? She looked slightly to the right to see where her portal gun was, it was at the front of the chopper next to the door. There was 4 combine in the chopper, one was the driver, one was in the passenger seat to help with the weapons system, and the two who were sitting right next to her and the rebel girl to guard them. Chell took in a deep breath to regain her mind, about to act. She looked to Alyx, she simply tilted her head toward the door as a message of 'Let's get the fuck outa here'. Chell then leaned back.

"Wow it's stuffy in here ain't it?" she said unbuttoning one of the buttons on her top. Alyx looked at her wearily, not sure what she was planning. Then she saw the light gleam of metal that was barely visible at the top of her neckline. In what seemed to be a blur of what was a swift and brutal attack; Chell took out her hidden wrench and bashed in the helmet of the nearest combine soldier. She continued to hit the same combine who was unable to respond to the onslaught. Alyx tackled the second one just before he got a shot off into Chell. She pushed him onto the ground and struggled to grab the pistol from the aliens belt. Before she could get it, she looked up at the door leading to the cockpit. A combine focused a pistol to Alyx's head only a few feet away, her mind went nearly blank with fear. She shut her eyes tight waiting for whatever it was to happen. She head some stumbling and reopened her eyes, she saw the battered combine Chell was working on stumbling into the one with a gun to her head. She finally got the pistol from the mans belt, it was pretty heavily modified. She was about to pull off a round to the combines head when the entire flying fortress tilted as the two tripping combine crashed into the pilot. Chell fell to the opposite wall and made her way to the door. Alyx was struggling to do the same, tripping over the flailing soldier under her. Chell grabbed her portal gun and activated it. She put all of her power into opening the door, she was already back to thinking with portals. She planned to shoot one to the ground then aim one in the helicopter itself. Jump through it with rebel girl and close it the hell down.

It did not work out that way.

Alyx finally got up at had a gun pointed at the cockpit, trusting that Chell knew what she was doing. Chell was busy trying to place a portal on the ground, but both of them were right next to the 4000 foot drop to the ground. She thought she had the situation under control ready to put down anyone who thought they were faster then her. Turns out the pilot thought he was. He seemed to believe their guests had overstayed their welcome. He tilted the controls, tossing Alyx into Chell, throwing them both to their plummeting deaths. She felt her life pass before her eyes. Her mother holding her, the hell that was the black mesa incident. Her childhood spent in a combine occupied America. Her first period while on a grueling cross Atlantic ride to Europe. Her permanent status of outcast, with almost no one in the rebellion anywhere near her age. She was beginning to accept her fate, never seeing her squad mates again, never seeing father Grigori again… Never seeing her father… She stared crying the tears flying abover as she fell from the sky. Then she felt a hand on her wrist. She looked up and saw Chell. Or what she assumed to be her. She saw the outline of a human behind them the bright sun overshadowing her. She spoke but she couldn't hear base the rush of air past her ears. But the face was unmistakable. It spoke to her '**_Don't give up you freakin wuss'_**

_**Chapter 2 End**_

**Ok finally I have finished another chapter. Sorry for taking so long, I just got totally distracted from everything. I would like to thank the reviewers who are the reason I decided to finish it. Heres hoping I don't take so long this time. ^^**


	3. Chapter 3

**Warning: I do not own Half Life or Portal except for the copies I own. It is owned by the Valve Corporation.

* * *

**

Half Life: A Grim Hope

* * *

Chapter 3: Off the Radar

* * *

2200 Feet

Chell uncomfortably stuffed the portal gun into the back of her shirt. She ended up flipping backwards as she struggled the intense force of the air as she plummeted down to the ground, and it was coming up fast. She put her body into a full swan dive. She had to catch up with Alyx before they hit rock bottom. It was far more unnerving then her escapades within the aperture science enrichment center. She reached as far as she could for Alyx's arm; she had an idea, not a great one, but an idea none the less.

* * *

1500 Feet

Alyx watched as Chell twisted in the air above her, she looked ridiculous trying to stuff that portal gun into the back of her shirt. She would be amused if she wasn't so soul shatteringly afraid. After Chell had successfully harnessed her gun she reached out to her. Alyx did her best to reach out to Chell their hands were barely out of reach. They were mere moments but it might as well been an eternity. Finally Chell grabbed Alyx's wrist. Somehow she was pulled up to her height.

Alyx felt as she was awkwardly put into women's arms in a position that a baby would be in a mothers arms. Or assumed that's what this would look like, she'd never actually seen such a sight. She would feel mortified if she wasn't so terrified. She wondered what the hell this women was thinking "WHATS THE PLAN HERE?" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

* * *

900 Feet

Chell felt weird holding this girl in her arms as the plummeted from the sky. She heard the faint voice of Alyx in her arms yelling back at her. She looked down at her and screamed back "THESE THINGS ON MY FEET ABSORB ENERGY"

The girl in Chell's arms looked up at her with a slight understanding "SO THIS WILL KEEP US FROM BECOMING ROAD KILL?" she said with a bit of hope in her voice.

Chell heard her and bit her lip "HOPEFULLY"

* * *

400 Feet

Alyx imagined this is what it felt like to have a heart attack "HOPEFULLY!" she said with absolute panic in her voice.

Chell looked down at her with a bit of an annoyed look "SORRY! I DON'T JUMP OUT OF HELECOPTERS MORE OFTEN!"

* * *

100 Feet

Alyx and Chell looked to the ground both thought the same thing _**Well… We're about to find out**_.

* * *

Eli Vance was sitting in his make shift lab in Black Mesa East. He sat there looking at a looping video from Alyx's patrol. He didn't think anyone besides Breen was working with the combine. Gods if they had spy's in the resistance… it could get disastrous. He shook his head watching as Alyx was forced into the copter. He wasn't sure how to feel, he had always thought she would go down fighting. Avoiding capture at all costs. For gods sake she embedded the phrase 'death before dishonor' into every one here at B.M.E. He remembered her asking about her heritage when she was ten. He told her his lineage and some history of the their race. When she brought up her mother… it was simply too painful for him to talk to her. He was able to dig up a old book on Japanese culture to avoid talking to her. She was so spirited reading about the samurai culture. She was so cute waving a cardboard tube as if it was a Katana. He even remembered when he led herself and a few older kids into attacking the teenagers with sticks.

So what was worse, that she had a possibility of still being alive or that that life was about to be tried by the combines torture technique. He shook his head feeling as if he were on the verge of crying. Alyx was his last piece of his old life, proof of a world before all this. It was her he worked so hard for. Without her…

Eli put his face in his hands shaking softly. Soon a intruder made her way into his sanctuary. He looked over at her and took a deep breath "Hello Judith…" he said looking back at the screen. The camera had been abandoned on it's side toward the fighting where the rebels had assaulted the remaining combine at the post they had run into. They were able to make quick work of the 3 remaining Combine but were still dragging two of their comrades.

Mossman walked up to Eli she walked up to a few feet away. She spoke with sincerity in her voice but not true sadness "Eli… I came when I heard… Is it true?" Eli loved Judith but he didn't buy the act. Alyx was always a roadblock in their relationship. She felt bad FOR Eli. But she didn't feel bad.

Before he could answer the radio came alive "-BZT- Eli you there?" came the voice of Barney a spy in the combine forces. He was the resistances eyes and ears in city 17. Most recently Eli asked him to moniter the chopper that took Alyx away.

"Yea Barney… I'm here… what you hear?"

Barney was quiet for a moment implying the worse news before he even spoke "The chopper came in about 15 minutes ago. They said they were flying along when the orange suited one pulled a weapon out of nowhere. They began to take control of the copter but… the combine threw them overboard for being too much trouble… I-…" Barneys voice had become choked up "I'm sorry Eli… So… so sorry" he said before his voice gave out "I've got to go… patrol coming by… goodbye"

Then Judith witnessed a sight that no one had seen since the Renaissance Cascade had ravaged the earth. She saw Eli Vance. The leader of the human resistance. Break down and cry.

* * *

Chell was slowly brought back from the depths of sleep. She felt like she had been hit by a bat, to the head and back. She was completely out of it. She let out a grunt of pain. She couldn't feel much, it felt like, every part of her body was screaming at her to do something about it. She shook her head from side to side as if to wake herself. That's when she heard a voice.

"Chell… Are you awake?" the voice was calm and caring. She turned her head toward the voice and opened her eyes. Sitting there was Rhys Galaway she was surrounded by what appeared to be a shroud of white. Maybe this was Heaven, her little personal heaven… With Rhys. She smiled at him accepting the lovly fate she was handed. She was about to talk back when she heard another voice…

"Oh thank god your ok lass, thought we'd lost you" the voice was distinctly Scottish and she recognized it from somewhere else. She turned her head to the other side of what she now realized was a bed. She saw the face of the brown hair blue tipped face of the person who launched her through a window "Hello there!" he said with a smile.

Chell's eyes flashed with rage "You son of a BITCH" she launched her body forward, hands in front of her ready to choke the man before her body reminded her that she was in no condition to do a damn thing "GAH!" she fell back in her bed and Rhys chuckled lightly.

"You may want to relax abit lass your still in some pretty bad shape" Rhys said trying to calm her down. Slowly Chell relaxed back into her bed wincing in pain.

The man decided to speak "I'm really sorry lass, I… don't really think things through once I put my mind to it…" he said solemnly looking down. Then looked up with a smile once again on his face "Still I plan to make it up to you the best I can…"

Chell raised a brow incredulous at the offer "What… could you… Possibly do make this up to me" she said shaking her head.

"Well I'll tell you then… I'm gonna become your new best friend!" he said with a smile.

Rage flashed in Chell's eyes but she soon were calm. Her words were absolutely adamant and without emotion "That… will never happen" she said shaking her head

The man just smiled "Aw don't worry you'll warm up to me, names Skye Macalister" He said with his ever growing warm smile "Now I want to get ta know you better but first…. I need you to wake up" he said but his voice had changed somehow.

Chell was confused she looked at him "Wha-… what are you talking about?" she said not sure what he meant.

Skye's response was the same "You need to wake up"

Everything around Chell was quickly changing she shook her head "No… nonononon-"

* * *

Chell bolted forward colliding heads with someone. Her head fell back to the ground where it was. She started to rub her head with her left hand eyes clenched. She slowly opened her left eye to see the rebel girl sitting a foot away rubbing her own head. Chell closed her eyes as if to heal her head bruise faster "Christ… what happened" she said still a bit disoriented from the crash.

Alyx looked over to her newly acquired companion still rubbing her head looking over at the girl. She was defiantly in a orange jumpsuit but after all the crap that's happened it had been torn heavily in many different place's. She shook her head at the question "We hit the ground. Hard. But it seems we survived thanks to those… whatever they are" She said stretching abit. She sighed "You fell off balance though, hit your noggin good, you've been out for five minutes or so" Alyx made a nervous look around they were surrounded by trees, they had managed to land in some kind of clearing in the forest, damn needle in a haystack. Chell was beginning to sit up. "I know you injured right now but we need to get you up… fast, were waist deep in combine territory" she said pulling out her new pistol, courtesy of the combine forces. Chell began to sit up going to stand, Alyx reached out her hand to try and stop her "Wait I think you may have sprained your-"

Too little too late. Pain surged through Alyx's ankle as if someone was taking a bat to it. "GAHHHHHH MOTHER OF GOD" the screeching voice probably didn't do much to help keep their location a secret.

"-ankle… great…" Alyx said knowing it was going to be a pain to get around with a injured ally. She looked back at Chell who was reaching for her portal gun. It had survived the slight fall though it probably messed with Chell's back. Alyx was contemplating how the hell they were going to get around when Chell put her weight into the portal gun and stood up. Very shakily but was standing, bearing through the pain.

"Well as much as I feel this is some bad acid trip, we better get moving huh?" she said looking around. Alyx was shocked by her stubbornness. Stubbornness she had only seen in… herself. She nodded and stood up and pointed westward toward Black Mesa East.

"Com'on lets get moving" she said starting to move before Chell fired a portal to the highest tree around them "What are you doing?" she asked curious, they wouldn't need to go back here, certainly not that high.

"Need to start thinking with portals, come on lets mo-" she was interrupted by an electric voice belonging to these 'Combine soldiers'. She turned to the combine soldiers only two men strong

"Stop right there hum-"

He didn't get any farther as Alyx plugged the man with three rapid fired shots into the Combine soldiers head, she leveled her gun at the other one but he soon sank downward. She started aiming downward before she realized he wasn't crouching, he was falling. She saw the bright orange portal he was disappearing into. She turned back to the portal Chell had shot to see the combine free falling from the air. He fell to the ground with a thud. Alyx looked at the combine and smiled "Oh, now I get it, thinking with portals" she started to turn to Chell "I think we'll be fi- Whoa" Chell was holding her side "Christ are you ok…"

Chell looked up to her and chuckled, "Oh, me? No I'm fantastic…" she said sarcastically, "Does this shade of red match my hair?..." she said chuckling morosely she started to walk out of the clearing "Come on we got to move" she said biting her lip and marching through the pain.

Alyx fallowed her pistol out, ready to shoot. She couldn't believe she had let her new… ally? Get Shot. Alyx walked up next to her unwinding the gauze wrapped around her arm "Here, wait a minute, let me patch you up" he started directing her a different way "Come on they'll be lookin for us out here… and if I know one thing about the combine, they look everywhere but their own neighborhood for their enemies"

* * *

Eli Vance was sitting in his lab, the still broken teleporter to his left, the multitude of monitors to his right. He was sitting in his old rolling chair staring at an old picture himself, his wife and his child… "Alyx…" he used his open hand to pour a new glass of scotch. He gave it a light swirl in the glass before taking a sip from it. He was far from drunk but he was on the right track. He eventually heard the soft sound of the door sliding open. It was a young rebel soldier couldn't be much older then Alyx is… was… He spoke nervously to the leader of the resistance "Um… Eli… sir…"

Eli spoke with his same raspy voice as he always did, he motioned the boy to the door before he spoke "Eli Vance… is not here at the moment… please come back later" with that he ok another sip of liquor finishing the glass before pouring another. The young rebel may have been weak in the knees but he knew he had to deliver the message.

"I'm sorry sir… It's just… he's back... City 15 says he's about an hour away" this got Eli's attention but he simply shrugged.

"If I've learned anything these last few years is that that man can't be stopped short of a nuclear bomb…" he stopped for a moment in deep thought "Tell the railroad to speed things up, that insane bastard will be a great distraction for them" he said simply "Now please, let an old man grieve… please" The rebel nodded about to leave when eli spoke again "What's your name boy?"

"John Doe sir" he said

"Did you know my daughter John?" he asked turning to the boy

"Yes… We went on missions a couple of times" he said feeling awkward in the mans stare.

Eli nodded motioning the boy to come over to the desk the boy compiled, if a bit uneasily. He sat down on a near by chair while Eli got up and got a second glass "Now listen, your gonna sit there, drink some of this" he said shaking the bottle of scotch before pouring him a glass "And your gonna listen ramble about Alyx for the next hour ok?" he said leaning towards the boy. The boy nodded in response and Eli leaned back into his chair "I remember the day Alyx was born…"

_**Chapter 3 End

* * *

**_

**Well as disappointed I am in this chapter I am glad I didn't take a year to post X_X . Anyways if you caught the L4D reference, then good for you. I'll be writing more soon so look out for it. Please Review, it's the only way I know anyone's reading. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Warning: I do not own Half Life or Portal except for the copies I own. It is owned by the Valve Corporation.

* * *

**

Half Life: A Grim Hope

* * *

Chapter 4: Helicopter?

* * *

Alyx and Chell were waiting at a tree line just before the great wall of city 17. There was a large crack in the incredible defenses surrounding the town. There were sweeping spotlights checking the 30 foot stretch from the wall to the tree line. Alyx whispered to Chell under her breath "Okay ass soon as they separate, we make a run for it… you okay to run?" she said with some concern for her new friend. Chell simply nodded , she was in a bit too much pain to actually speak it. Alyx nodded still worried for her. "Okay three… two… one" the spotlights parted in front of them "Go!" the started running in flat out sprint for the wall. Alyx had learned that it was best to keep your mind straight on the goal when sprinting. As she dashed into the crack in the defense she looked back. Her eyes widened. She saw Chell lying on the ground holding her side in pain. Alyx looked to the left and right they had about 7 seconds before the spotlights busted them. Alyx sprinted out to her "Come on we gotta go~" she pulled her up and they struggled for the breach. They made it just before the light swept the disappearing imprint of their foot prints. The light lingered as Alyx and Chell held their breath. After a few moments the light swept back out to it's normal routine.

Alyx and Chell breathed out in relief. Chell cringed at her side was in pain. "S-sorry… I just couldn't…" she said before being forced to take a breath.

Alyx shook her head and patted her back. "Don't worry about it, were safe, we need to keep moving"

Chell nodded but looked over "…why couldn't we use the portal gun?" she asked curiously of her new friend.

Alyx thought for a moment but shook her head and shrugged "Uh… we couldn't risk the bright light it produces?" she suggested but it was more of a rationalization then an actual reasons. Using the portal gun would have been a much better idea. "Well that was the hard part… now all we have to do is navigate the streets and get to the underground railroad"

"What if were caught?" Chell asked rather worrisome.

Alyx looked back at her and smiled "Oh don't worry about that, this whole side of the city is an abandoned residential sector" she said, they were nearing the end of the crack in the wall, it let to a small hole in the side of a house. Alyx moved the wooden flatbed and surveyed the room. With no one in it she came out and then helped Chell. "This is where the railroad was before but then they closed off the whole sector. She took a seat at a table. The windows were completely covered by wood and some by curtains.

Chell joined her at the table glad to have the time to rest she looked over at Alyx and had to sound her concerns "Say Alyx… how mismatched are we here?" Alyx looked up at the jump suited girl. Alyx raised a brow

"What do you mean?" she asked genuinely wondering what was on her mind.

"You said you're a rebel… and I understand now you are the good guys but… what are we talking about here?" she took a deep breath "Are you in a knife fight… or are you just an annoying fly?" she asked wondering just how bad off the human race was.

Alyx looked at her and sighed "Come over here" she stood up and led her to a window. Chell fallowed close behind psyching herself for whatever she might see. Alyx finally pulled the curtain aside, Chell's eyes took in the scene in front of her. She noted the city's immenseness and what struck her first were the randomly flying boxes that were around, then the helicopters in the distance. Then. Then she saw it. Her eyes widened. Her head tilted back seeing the entire citadel in all its dim, grey, horrifying glory. She positioned her head, trying to see more before being stopped by the clouds that were spread on for as far as the eye could see.

Chell was choked up at first before speaking "p-please tell me that's our base…" she said with one moment of fleeting hope. Alyx just tilted her head and then shook it

"Fraid not" Alyx said closing the drapes again. Chell stepped back, luckily finding a chair to fall back into.

"Well… this sucks" she said letting her head fall back in defeat at the absolute overpowering presence of the combine. She took in a deep breath.

Alyx nodded a few feet away she never thought of it that way. She had always lived in the combines world, so every little victory the rebellion had was a step to freedom. She knew that wasn't how it was for Chell. She seemed to remember the world how it was. For her this was a huge step back. "Come on we gotta keep moving" she said tapping her shoulder. Chell delayed for a moment debating on just giving up then and there. After a couple of moments she nodded standing up and cringing in pain again. "Come on we really need to get you to Black Mesa East" Chell nodded and they made their way into the abandoned neighborhood.

* * *

Eli and John were sitting in the dark laboratory deep in the heart of Black Mesa East; dimly lit only by the warm numbing glow of the TV's and computer monitors. Eli had just got done telling about the first time he showed Alyx to everyone at Black Mesa. Happened to be a couple days before the Black Mesa incident. It was probably the only thing that spared his family the horrors of the six hours war. John was pretty successfully drunk but he was no lightweight, they were into their third bottle of scotch and he was a bit faster at drinking then his commander.

John finally felt like speakin "Is remembers the fis mission I Alyx was on with me" he laughed "we totly ambushed thes combine with a boulders" he said shaking his head "I have had waaaaay too much" he said but soon an alarm started going off inside the base. The only way the two men knew about it was the incredible red light that flashed in the lab.

Eli rubbed his old eyes that were red from crying. He stood up, "looks like our little guest is coming into City 17 airspace"

* * *

Alyx and Chell were jumping across the rooftops of City 17 going into windows whenever a copter or photo box got too close for comfort. They were currently hiding out in an abandoned attic, Chell was looking out the cracks of the boarded up window. Alyx was relaxing on an old bed. So old it actually had springs poking out of the fabric. Chell spoke with a solemn voice "The world sure has changed… hasn't it?" she said with a sigh getting another look at the massive combine citadel.

Alyx looked over at her and sighed "Yea… but at least you lived in the time before the combine… I was barely a child when the Renaissance Cascade occurred" she said gripping her knees to her chest.

Chell looked over at Alyx "Renaissance what?" Chell asked still feeling like he was completely out of the loop.

Alyx shook her head "Nothing I'll explain everything if we can get back to Black Mesa East" she said moving to a dusty old wardrobe. Opening it she pulled out and old zippered grey sweatshirt, she also managed a pair of old jeans, there were holes at the knees but nothing else looked like it had a chance in hell of fitting Chell. "Here, take these, put them over your… jumpsuit" she said throwing the cloths at Chell, who was looking out the window once again looking confused. As the cloths hit her in the face "What's up?"

Chell looked over at Alyx taking the cloths "Was that tower always yellow?" she asked starting to slip her new sweatshirt on.

When Chell asked the question Alyx looked worried "What?" she rushed over to the window pushing aside Chell who was awkwardly trying to put on her pants over her jumpsuit. "Oh no…. Oh nononono" Chell was still awkwardly pulling her new torn pants.

"Geez what's wrong? What does a yellow whatever that is mean?" she said buttoning the loose jeans on her body

"It means there's an aerial attack coming into City 17" she said starting to reveal the opening for them to escape the attic and back onto the roofs. Chell looked over at her with a much more hopeful spin on the situation.

"Oh so the rebels do have air support, that's some good news…" she said finishing securing the pants to her body with an old rope. Alyx shook her head at Chell's statement

"Not exactly" Alyx said poking her head out of the little opening surveying the situation. Nearly all the copters were heading to the west side of town, conveniently away from them. "There's this guy. He is batshit insane" she said flatly and seriously. He used to be a part of the resistance but now he seems to just travel to all the European cities and causes absolute havoc" she said ducking her head back into the attic.

Chell looked back with a raised brow "Well that's good right? Causes a lot of problems for the combine" she said standing up by this time Chell looked relatively normal, her jumpsuit now just looked like a bright t-shirt.

Alyx shook her head "No you see he attacks everyone and anyone, combine copters, soldiers, civilians, children, it doesn't matter" she said shaking her head recalling the horror… She breathed in deep, "We need to move, on the double" She said jumping up and heaving herself onto the roof of the old house, reaching down for Chell. Who painfully reached up and got out. They both started running across the roofs of City 17. Off in the distance a war was raging in the sky…

* * *

On the grass fields outside of City 17 there was the shadow of a circle, belonging to the constantly spinning blades of a massive propeller. Just below the spinning blades there was no normal helicopter body. No there was no metallic body, there was simply a man underneath those blades. The pole connected to the blades seemed to go into a simple pack of some sort. He had two large rectangular things attached to his feet, they seemed to be made of the same material as the Combine bunkers. In his hands there was something that resembled a large steel tube in the front and a large oversized revolver chamber in the back. On his back was a classic MG-42, next to it was a Medieval Scottish Claymore He was wearing a pair of goggles, a normal cotton shirt with a plad sash across it, and a pair of old jeans rounding out the outfit.

Approaching the man was 5 copters in an arrow formation heading toward him. He readied his gun-esc object. He aimed it at the lead copter and fired. Out came a small spherical object, slowly beeping. It hit the wing of the lead copter and stuck there. After a few seconds it exploded causing the entire wing to blow off and nail the second copter on the left. The lead choppers gas tank exploded in a beautiful fiery explosion. The two choppers dropped out of the sky like wingless birds.

The final 3 dispersed so they wouldn't be such easy targets. The man cocked the grenade revolver and took aim at the final chopper on the left. This one hits right on target. It crashes through the window and immediately the chopper starts to look uneasy as the driver is panicking inside. As the grenade explodes it blows out the windows in a combustion of fire and blood.

The man starts flying sideways as did the last two choppers. Their machine guns began to wind up. The man lifted his legs out in front of him using the rectangles on his feet as overlapping shields. He pulled back to keep his legs in the air easier. The bolts started nailing the two shields but the man got away unscathed. He lowered his legs and fired a shot nearly missing both helicopters. To the mans delight it hit the rotor of the copter. After a few seconds it blew off separating the rotating blades from the body. The body dropped but the blades crashed and sliced through the second chopper dropping it out of the sky struggling to stay afloat with its new addition. The man smiled and started flying straight for the massive wall of city 17. He holstered his explosive revolver and took out a classic MG-42. Heading straight for the fearful citizens that waited below. The combine attempted to knock him out of the sky but didn't have a chance in hell. They did not know how to deal with him. All their enemies were on the ground. All but him.

* * *

The explosive battle that was miles away was easily audible to Chell and Alyx. They were still far from any station along the underground railroad. Alyx wasn't about to give up, not after all the crap they had been through. She was sure she could make it alone but Chell's injury was slowing her down, more and more.

Alyx looked eastward and saw what had become the terror of Europe, the spinning blades of a copter with a body attached. She could just barley hear the whirling of the gun, confirmed by the showering of bullets that came next. She had to look away, she couldn't stand it. _**Those poor people**_.

Chell wasn't focused on the threat that was far off, she was more concerned with more basic essentials with survival. Even with all the crazy crap that had hit her that day, the only thought going through her head was _**1234,1234,1234, 1234 jump 234 **_She was just trying her best to just keep moving which was getting harder and harder to do. _**All this running can't be good for the wound**_ as if to confirm this she started coughing into her hand, which revealed a splotch of red blood. _**…Crap…**_ She shook her head and continued moving. Not noticing the beating of the blades growing closer and closer.

* * *

The rampage the man was on was horrific, if inefficient. Most had learned to stay in their houses when the combine tower turned yellow. While some braved the outside they were likely swiftly brought down. After a while he retired the old machine gun for a few of the bombs he had brought with him. He took out a long tube, inspired by the rebels that still fought in Ireland. He dropped the package down in the middle of a street, when he was out of range he pressed a small button, the package exploded as hundreds on nails sprang into the nearby houses shattering windows. He was curious if he should leave to get more gas or explosives when he saw something. It appeared to be two little ants scrambling atop the roofs. He smiled and started straight towards them.

* * *

Alyx forced herself to look back to where the flying monster was. To her horror he was heading straight for them. She turned to Chell, despite the obvious pain she was in, she was only dragging behind slightly. Alyx went back and grabbed her arm, "Come on we have to hide, Now!" she struggled with Chell heading to an old boarded up attic. Alyx braced her shoulder to bust through. The planks were old and rotted and went through easily. They crashed through both landing hard on the hardwood floor Chell groaned in pain but Alyx was up and looking around she started piling whatever she could in front of the window the whirling of the blades was close and deafening _**crapcrapcrapcrap **_the sounds of the blades stopped, replaced by foots steps _**CRAPCRAPCRAPCRAP**_. She was piling a box when what could only be described as a battle cry came out and the crash as a 6 foot sword came busting through half the boxes she had just stacked, Alyx jumped back and tripped over herself and fell onto the ground. The blade continued to crash through the defensive line of wood. Alyx struggled and took out her new pistol and took aim. He bashed through and Alyx unloaded on the man there was a good amount of dust, clouds dispersing with each bullet. She ran out and looked to searched her belt for a new magazine only to find nothing. Bad moment to run out of ammo. The man walked in holding one of the rectangular shields he wore on his feet. No wounds what so ever. He smiled "Oi lass, bad luck eh" he smiled dropping the shield brandishing the sword walking towards a cowering Alyx.

Chell looked up drearily at the man. Adrenaline, anger, and annoyance surged through her. She stood up looking at the mans strange attire, and his blue tipped hair, he looked older, by at least ten years; but there was no mistaking it "Skye, you stupid crazy bastard!" the man seemed to stop, even startled. He took a step back removing his goggles.

"Ch-Chell?" he said almost unbelievingly, "N-No…. y-y-y-you can't be here, you CANT EXIST HERE!" he started to then mumble to himself nonsensically Chell had no trouble with the reunion.

Chell stood up and walked over, Alyx seemed confused but in control enough to try to stop Chell, if a bit late. Chell stood in front of the imposing man with a sword in hand, her portal gun still holstered to her back. Skye stood there looking at Chell as if she was some kind of apparition. Chell pulled her fist back and slammed it into Skye's Jaw. Chell immediately gripped her side breathing heavily. The man fell back and into a wall, then sliding down it "Oi, Christ Chell what the hell" he looked around him and closed his eyes "God my head!" he said placing his head in his hand. Chell sat down and Alyx looked between the two.

Alyx seemed to need some clarification "Y-… you two know each other?" she asked towards Chell. Chell made no move looking down at her lap. She didn't seem to move. Macalister looked at her as well, worried "Hey... whats wrong?" Chell stayed still both of them rushed over to her. Alyx was nervous around Skye and rightfully so. "What's wrong with her?" he asked rather worried about her "Di-… did I do this" he asked extremely worried

Alyx felt the urge to tell him yes, but that would be lying… besides he was obviously nuttier then a Squirrels food stash. "…No this was a combine bullet in her" he seemed instantly relieved. In the distance she could hear the next wave of copters heading their way. She felt disgusted by what she was about to ask but she knew it was the only way to get her new friend to the safety of Black Mesa East. She was next to the boogie man of the new world. She grabbed the man by the collar "Lisen do still remember how to operate that thing on your back?" she said praying that he didn't hack her to bits. He looked at her confused by a moment.

"What do you…" he looked behind him and saw the pack "Hey cool my Hele-pack I didn't know I built this yet… um yea I should be able to" he said with a nod to Alyx

_**What's with this guy**_ "Okay I need you to get your shields and get us out of the city, Now!" she said in an almost pleading voice.

Skye looked at her and nodded, he slid the claymore into its sheath, and he scooped Chell into his arms and started towards the window. Alyx fallowed him picking up his shield on the way _**We need to hurry… for her sake**_.

* * *

20 Minutes Later

This was a bad situation. Worse then the time she was cornered in a house with a hunter. Worse then when the combine had captured her squad and she had to rescue them. She was balancing, 5000 feet in the air with a mad man who she had nightmares of when she was 14. She couldn't believe the hell she was plunged into. Hey maybe she did die when they fell out of that helicopter. It's like her father told her about that book 'Hell is other people'. In any case she was right now the only weapon on their little ship against 3 pursuing helicopters. She looked down at the scenery below; it was the watery road heading to Black Mesa East. They were close now.

Alyx was trying to understand how to work this freaking grenade launcher worked while under fire from the copters. 'Skye' was rather panicked "Come on I couldn't have invented something _that_ hard to operate" she would role her eyes if she didn't believe that it would have been a waste of what could be her short life span. She finally located something that could be pulled back. She had to use both hands to pull it back, the revolver chamber switched and she took aim at the general direction of the copters and pulled the trigger. Out flew some kind of grenade. It nearly fell short but attached to the gun on the front copter. The grenade blew off the gun with ease but failed to take down the copter. Just as well though, it fell back for repairs. This small victory was short lived as the other two choppers had once again reloaded their guns and let loose. Most of the bullets flew harmlessly around them. Even the few that came close none hit Alyx. She once again started to crank the grenade launcher and looked up to Skye "Terrible shots aren't they?" she said with a smile. She looked up at him and to her horror saw his back had two large splotches of red.

He bit his lip through obvious pain. Whatever the hell they made these Aperture Science employees out of it was impressive as hell. He spoke over the rushing air as best he could "Y-yea… but humor me and try to knock them down please" Alyx took the sarcasm and nodded. She took aim and fired. This one hit its mark. The right copter exploded and fell from the sky and into the woods below. Alyx loaded the very last grenade into its slot. Then Skye started to falter making it harder and harder to take aim. Just as she moved to pull the trigger a new wave of bullets came from the last copter. They were to high to hit any of them. They weren't its target any more. They hit Skye's rotor above them, and soon their flight was coming to an abrupt end. Alyx made one last shot at the copter as they dropped below the dam just outside of Black Mesa East. She had the few satisfying moment of watching that copter start to drop out of the sky. Just before the water rushed over her body. She felt the hard bed of sand that was just below the surface. She lived so she was lucky enough. She wasn't concerned with herself anyways. She immediately swam to the surface and took in air. She looked around not seeing either of her new friends. She did a double take and saw something break the surface if only for a moment.

A large busted helicopter blade was poking out. She felt like everything on her body was busted but she didn't car. Alyx pushed through the pain, she swam to the wreck and swam down under the water. Both Chell and Skye was passed out under the water _**Great**_. She decided to release the dead weight and went to Skye's pack. She slipped his arms out of the pack and let it float in the water away. She then hoisted him to the surface. She then went back for Chell She saw her floating aimlessly completely at the will of the current. She pulled her up with her to Skye and grabbed both of them by the collars and made her way to the concrete slab of the building that was disguised as a power plant. Made to fool anyone into avoiding Black Mesa East, so wouldn't be discovered. It was done so well that the combine didn't even think to look. She struggled to bring both the bodies out of the water. She wasn't sure how it happened but she got them out. She took a few moments to herself just taking in air before struggling over to the nearest body.

It ended up being Skye, she raised both hands interlocking her fingers. She brought them down on his chest with a strong punch. He reacted immediately and coughed up some water… and blood. But he wasn't choking anymore. She sighed relieved and made her way over to Chell. She was much worse off.

Chell was in real bad shape, Alyx tried to knock the water out of her like Skye but it wasn't enough. "Damnit… come on…" Alyx didn't think to look for a pulse and started CPR. When she started to pump her heart with her hands she looked down at her "Damnit you can't die on me here, that would mean we went through all this crap for nothing" She once again started to try and suck the water out.

After about 5 minutes it seemed pointless. Alyx felt water come to her eyes, and not from the dip she just took "Come on… please… please…" just as she was about to give up water came spewing from her mouth and into her own. She spit it out and looked down feeling the weight of the world lift off her shoulders "Oh thank god your alright" she said taking a breath for herself

Chell was weak but she could stay conscious for the moment "Yea… is Skye alright" she said in a almost whisper. Alyx wasn't actually sure. She hadn't checked on Skye since he had spit up the liquid. She looked over and Chell fallowed suit.

Skye was lying a few feet away looking over at them with a silly in pain numbed grin on his face "Oh… please… don't let me get in the way of your make-out session" Alyx face went into a deep red as would Chell's if she had any idea what where or why that was funny.

Alyx pressed a palm to her face trying to hide the blush. She hadn't so much as kissed anyone before and he was… "Is he always like this?" she asked with evident embarrassment.

Chell simply chuckled "Only when he's conscious" she said before wincing in pain, and moving her hand to her still bandaged wound. Alyx took note of their condition and started pulled them both to the small out cove.

As she dragged them into the small stone and steel room the steel door slid shut letting them sit in darkness. Alyx dragged them both to the stone wall to rest. She had relieved Chell of the drenched and probably inoperable portal gun. She sat, completely exhausted against the adjacent steel door, portal gun in her lap and her new pistol holstered to her belt. After a few minutes a voice came over the intercom "H… Hey! Is someone in there?" Alyx rolled her eyes whoever was supposed to be manning the door was sleeping apparently.

"Yea! We have two injured in here" she said trying to keep her voice up.

"And who the hell are you?" the man said now apparently on his game.

"It's Alyx Vance now open this damn door and get some medics down here!" she said getting pissed.

There was a few moments of silence before the man spoke again "Y… You'll have to do better then that, Alyx was confirmed KIA hours ago"

Alyx didn't know what he was talking about but she didn't care "Now listen asshole you will get me a god damn medical unit here NOW! Or I swear to God I will break through that glass and transfer your blood to them" Alyx regretted the threat after she said it since the guy could just kill them. She knew he had the authority

There was a long silence before the man spoke again "Ya ok, I'm gonna get a extraction team and be back an a couple of minutes ok?" he said obviously leaving not wanting a answer Alyx looked over at Chell and Skye. Skye had once again passed out but Chell was awake.

Chell spoke soft keeping her eyes closed "Thanks…. For everything… Saving me from the combine… getting me through that city… you know. I still don't know your name" she chuckled, regretting it as she winced in pain.

Alyx looked over at her remembering the last 5 hours and she was right. She hadn't even introduced herself. She did just yell it at the guard but she wasn't about to correct someone who could be dying. She shook her head with a smile "Well… let's fix that… My name is Alyx Vance" she said with a small smile.

Chell nodded still a bit out of it, but she listened to her and even smiled it was a nice name. She had been dropped into a world she wasn't positive was really real. She expected at any moment she would wake up in the inner bowls of the Aperture Science Enrichment Center to the taunts of that crazy AI. Hell she even hoped that she would wake up in her little workshop with nut bolt imprints across her face. Still even if this was all some horrible dream… she would miss her new friend… this Alyx. It took all her focus to answer her "Chell Legends"

_**Chapter 4 End

* * *

**_

**Holy crap, that has to be the most I wrote in such a short amount of time. Well we are almost done with this volume. Expect a short wrap up chapter for this volume. Please Review.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Warning: I do not own Half Life or Portal except for the copies I own. It is owned by the Valve Corporation.

* * *

**

Half Life: A Grim Hope

* * *

Chapter 5: A New Dawn

* * *

Chell sat in a small chair in the inner bowls of Black Mesa east, she was leaning back into it, the wall bracing the chair behind her. She dipped a spoon in her little bowl of Jello (Or at least something that was gelatinous). She was told it was filled with it was full of vitamins and protein and all that good stuff. Still she was astonished to find something with less flavor then _water_. She spooned a bit of it and examined it. For no god damn reason there were some tiny black specs smaller then seeds. They truly seemed to have no mass at all. It was like looking dirty old glasses. God how could they call this lunch. Her careful examination was interrupted by a male voice from the other end of the room.

"Having fun there?" Chell looked up at the man, her old friend Skye sat there with a bowl nearly identical to hers. Filled with the same flavorless meal as hers. He had his back to the wall. He kept looking over at her with a smug grin on his face.

She smirked before taking a spoonful into her mouth. She wasn't wearing her orange jumpsuit much at all anymore. She had a nice old army jacket with a badge from the Dutch 5th Army on the side. Her jeans were more tattered in places but were supplemented by bandages. It was hidden by an old rock t-shirt (Some old band from Amsterdam from before the cascade. She had a Bandana in her hair splotched with oil from a recent project. She spoke back to Skye Macalister pointing a spoon at him some Gelatin still in her mouth, "Yesh as a matter of fach I am" she swallowed "What about you?"

Skye smiled in response holding a spoonful of the stuff up like it was some kind rare cuisine only for him "Couldn't be better" he smiled putting the stuff in his mouth, he wore a child like smile as if he had just crushed a sugar cube between his teeth.

Chell stirred the Gelatin in her bowl giving her an excuse to speak once again, she smiled over to her friend "You know, all the cool kids around here are scolding me for hanging out with you" she said feigning a valley girls accent she said bringing the spoon to her mouth.

The Scottish man laughed lifting his head into the air. When he calmed down he looked back at her with a inquisitive look in his eyes "Well then why are you still hanging out with me?" he asked truly curious.

"What? And suffer the horrible fate of hanging out with those idiots, why in the world would I subject myself to that?" she said a raising a chuckle from the both of them. She examined the thin plasma wall that separated the two of them, you could see through it but it still blurred the vision of the man on the other side of it. Skye had been locked up for a week now, four of those days she failed to visit him in his little cell, she was still unconscious from their little adventure through the air above City 17.

Skye saw her looking at the plasma more then him and smiled "Yea they sure figured out this jailing thing huh?" he said tapping his knuckles to the wall, immediately a wall turret retargeted itself at Skye. He calmly and slowly brought back his arm showing he meant no harm. "This is some tuff stuff I threw everything, and the kitchen sink at that thing it didn't even budge

"That's not how that old saying goes, I demand a better one from you" she said with a smile.

"It's not a saying, look" he thumbed over to a corner of the room where an old porcelain sink was sitting against a wall, the pipes that once held the sink were above it, ugly as hell.

"Well… that was a stupid thing to do" she mentioned spooning one of the few remaining bites of the mold that were left.

"Oh don't be so dramatic, the plumbing didn't work at all, not a damn drop" he said annoyed turning the bowl upside down above his mouth to get the last chunk of food left.

To be honest it all seemed like some gdream… wait no, not dream, the other thing, a _nightmare._ It was a shame she had to see the proof all around her that it was anything but a figment of her imagination. The starving men and women just sitting helpless waiting for their next bowl of thinned out soup. As if it would give them the strength to continue living on to the next day. If this was where the humans were free, she couldn't imagine what it was like in this City 17.

She finished eating her food as a door opened over to the right. It didn't open how normal doors opened, it looked like star trek opening to the right. In walked Alyx Vance, her one and only friend… who wasn't in jail anyways. Behind her were two tuff looking rebel soldiers looked menacing. She was almost sure that the rebels didn't have access to steroids, but states evidence A and B made the case awfully convincing.

Chell looked over at her friend with a slight depression in her look. She knew why the two men were there, they had brought Alyx along to help get her out of there. Alyx looked at her with pleading eyes; it was ridiculous the last few days, the two men having to carry her out to the hall, Chell putting up one hell of a fight for someone of her size. They didn't want her to spread what those men did to Skye, but all the evidence she needed was on Skye's bruised skin.

Alyx looked at her with pleading eyes to Alyx. She avoided eye contact with Skye, for the last 5 years he had become the boogie man of the rebellion. He was a totally different from what she imagined (at least after a firm punch from Chell); he had saved hers and Chell's life. Even though she feared him still, it hurt her to see him so painfully bruised and broken. Still she was there to get Chell out, so she had to focus. "Chell, we need to go now" She said nudging her head back to the door.

Chell looked at them with some defiance "Oh really? Do they need to use the room?" she asked smugly "What to tell me what for" the two lug heads looked at each other annoyed this was the 3rd day in a row she was stopping them.

Skye spoke up "Chell just go this time" Everyone looked to him rather surprised at him, stopping the one person attempting to stop his unavoidable beating "I appreciate it really, but it's enough that you come here every day to keep me company. It's ok really"

Chell looked at him with a sad look; Skye was like her link to the past, the small bit of familiar land in a strange world. She took his words to heart and nodded, it was a futile in the end it just made her feel good to do _something_. She got up and passed Chell, frustrated with how Skye had been treated "Lets go" she said moving past the mounds of meat claiming to be human. Alyx was close behind, but before the door once again slid shut she heard Skye's voice.

"So what should we talk about today hm? The last 3 years I don't remember or the first two years I still don't remember" with that little question the door slid shut. She looked over at Chell who seemed to look as if she was trying to keep himself calm. Alyx walked up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder "Chell…"

Chell looked back at her friend, "…Lets head back to the room ok?" Alyx nodded without questioning her. They walked through the walls mostly in silence. As they past any humans they seemed to sneer at Chell, they thought she should be locked up along with the Scottish demon. Only with Alyx's word was she trusted inside the base; still some spied on her, they weren't very good but I guess it's the thought that counts right? After using the elevator, going down several corridors and then up a flight of stairs they arrived at their little abode. For the time being Alyx had suggested that Chell live in her flat. Most of the time up to 6 people lived in a small area, little better then a cloths closet. Alyx had gotten a bigger one just above her father's lab. Most thought it was special privilege but really she used the room to meet with engineers to see what they can make to combat the combine. As they walked in Chell ran and turned back to land on her mattress putting her hands behind her head. She sighed into the open space looking into the cement ceiling. Alyx saw her knowing what was going through her head.

"Hey Chell, what was it like before the Cascade?" Alyx had noticed that whenever Chell was depressed in any way talking about the old world usually helped her get out of it... Besides Alyx liked hearing about it. No one would tell her what it was really like back then. Anyone who really knew what it was like at her age thought of her as a child (Well everyone but a creepy guy in Ravenholm). She really liked her fathers and Barney's stories but they tended to leave all the juicy details out. Mr. Kleiner was happy to share all the details of his life but it was rather boring.

Chell sat up looking over at Alyx with a smile slowly appearing on her face. She sat up against the wall "OK sure… what do you want to know?" she said happy to reminisce about happier times.

Alyx thought for a moment, she had learned a remarkable amount about Chell in such a short amount of time she liked hearing about her time at aperture, especially about Skye, he was crazy… well crazy in a fun way, not in the terrifying way she had previously known him. She also loved hearing about her crush, Rhys, whenever Alyx asked if she liked him, she would always deny it, it was hilarious "Well you just finished telling me that cafeteria incident… so what happened after that? Weren't you supposed to be out of there soon? Your contract was almost up" she said resting on her bed that was only slightly more elevated then Chell's.

"Well let me think…"

* * *

Chell was going down the halls arms full with blueprints. She was sweating in a near panic, Skye was walking with her down the halls. To her surprise it was pretty easy to get on friendly terms with the crazy bastard "Why the hell am I doing this again?" she said to her currently kilt wearing friend.

He looked at her with a small reassuring smile "Cause you want to keep working here and this interview could do it" he stated simply.

"Why in the world would I want to work in this hell hole? Hours suck, work sucks worse" she said bitterly

Skye looked over at her a raised brow. Then he smiled devilishly "Well… Maybe you looooove Rhys and if you leave, you may never see him again!"

* * *

At this point Alyx broke out laughing, to Chell's discomfort. Chell started blushing deeply muttering to herself "I knew I should have left that out"

Alyx smiled at her stopping her laughter in check "Ya and then?" she said with a smile on her face deciding to not point out the blush on her face knowing she would end the story.

* * *

What Chell Tells Alyx

Skye was laughing a broad laugh keeping his head up he avoided Chell's blood thirsty gaze. She punched him in the arm. Hard. It ended his laughter quickly "Ow… that hurt…" he said sulking a bit.

What Actually Happened

Chell blushed deeply looking to the ground not meeting Skye's gaze, she bit her lip a bit. Skye looked at her face, which was hidden at the moment by her black locks. Then she suddenly stopped. Skye looked back at her then heard her sniffle a bit "Oh… Chell I… I'm…" he said desperately trying to find words, he meant it as a joke not to actually worry her.

She shook her head and used her sleeve to rid her eyes of the tears that had been shed for a moment. "I'm fine… I'm fine" she said with a bit more confidence. She walked past Skye drawing ever closer to the Panel of Research and Development. She waited outside the door with Skye basically giving her encouragement for her meeting. She occasionally told him to shut up so she could hear what was going on inside. The only reason that Rhys wasn't with them giving her encouragement was that he was with the panel now talking about some anomaly that was happening with his programming. She listened closely at one point and could hear him, what sounded like screaming.

"We need to shut it down the program it's learning at a unprecedented pace!"

The voice of a old man who was on the panel sounded condescending "Mr. Galaway your telling me that you believe that you have created the worlds first working sentient AI, and you want us to delete it?".

"What? No what the hell is wrong with you people I have evidence that without any help this AI has gained access to the ventilation system all by itself"

The panel started looked at one another, looking unconvinced "Thankyou mister Galaway, we will be sure to make note of the nicer air conditioning"

"Thankyou… mister Galaway" they said dismissing him.

Chell could hear him approaching the door and she turned to Skye whispering panicly "Quickly talk to me about something" that was when Chell realized that he had been talking to her the entire time. In fact his mouth was open mid-sentence, she chuckled a little "Uh… right… you were saying…"

Skye looked annoyed at her then looked away "No"

"Come on!"

"No!"

"Come on just talk, nothing else"

"No"

"Don't be a jerk for once and help!"

"NO!"

Rhys had snuck up on them and was standing right in front of them "Well glad to see that you two arguing, must mean your not too nervous" he turned towards Chell "You ready to show what you've got lass?" he said with a smile

Chell smiled back at him picking up her blueprints from the chair next to her "You know it" she said confidence soaring since Rhys had entered the room. She stood up and layed a hand on the handle looking back at her friends. Skye was giving her a very animated double thumbs up and a wide smile. Rhys as normal was a bit more reserved but he gave her a smile and a nod as if to push her towards her future. With a smile she entered the room.

The room was surprising, she imagined that it was similar to being in the Supreme Court, if everything was pained white and made with smoothly curved metal. She walked up there was a stand to put up any papers she may need to show. Despite the companies high-tech image they preferred interviews to be similar to that from the 1800's. The men looked bored with her already. Between the nine of them there were seven who could claim to remember the Nazi's as a threat to their personal well being. The man in the center talked dryly she heard he was the Vice President of Aperture "Missis… Legends, you have asked for our time to consider you as a full time employee. Please show us what you describe as a new advancement of potable sentry technology"

The man was kind looking in comparison to the other men. Giving her the benefit of the doubt "Well as all of you… probably not know I work in the Sentry repair department. All the ones that I have encountered were fragile. If these are the same were selling to the government, then it's a mediocre product"

"MS. Legends, our sentries have rated higher in accuracy and sensor technologies then any other, even higher then the Builders League United. Please tell me what makes you think you can improve upon that?" the man was condescending and under whelmed.

"I plan on developing, this" she said posting up a blueprint next to a stylized picture. The picture was of an egg like device. There was a large infrared eye in the middle. Next to that was another picture was a similar one, but the sides seemed to have opened and two machine guns were firing outward from the egg like shell "This is made of a much more durable me…"

* * *

A few hours after the story. Over the coarse of the story Chell and Alyx had gotten more food for dinner, it was a small bowl of chili, a rarity apparently. It had a few pieces of meat and some beans, it was the most protein he had all week. At this point they were back in Alyx's flat, both in their respectful beds, Chell wasn't sure if it was really nighttime, being inside the complex did that, but she was tired and that was enough for her. She was lying in her bed looking at the ceiling; she was about to drift off into unconsciousness she heard a voice. "Hey Chell, you awake?" She knew it belonged to Alyx, so she turned her body towards her.

"Yea, sure, what is it"

"Just wanted you to know, I'm going on a basic delivery to Ravenholm, you've seemed bored the last couple of days; you want to come along?" she said with a smile.

Chell thought for a moment, she then smiled over at her and nodded "Yea, yea that sounds great Alyx" she said smiling back and a little bit excited to get out of the damn place.

Alyx felt bad for keeping her in the dark about some things so she thought she put out this "Hey Chell, do you have any questions about the world? I'll try to answer you as best I can"

Chell nodded nothing really coming to mind… Well there was one thing "Hey you know, Skye had been teasing me about something about us making out… do you know anything about that?"

Alyx seemed to immediately blush from shock of the question. She quickly shook her head no and turned around in the bed. Her voice was calm but was at a much higher pitch "I-I don't know, maybe he dreamed it, g-guys you know?"

"Yea…" Chell said nodding convinced since she couldn't see Alyx's blushing face

"G'night"

"Good night"

_**Chapter 5 End

* * *

**_

_**End to Volume 1

* * *

**_

**And that is the end to saga one of Half Life: A Grim Hope. Hopefully you enjoyed it. Hope this chapter was better then my last one. Not very exciting but it seems like a good chapter regardless. Bonus points for anyone who caught the TF2 reference. Please Review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Warning: I do not own Half Life or Portal except for the copies I own. It is owned by the Valve Corporation.**

**(The following statement may contain spoilers from Portal 2, if you don't want to know, please just continue onto the story)**

**Authors Note : After studying some of the new backstory revealed in Portal 2 I realize I cannot bring everything in effectively. I have decided to incorporate some things while excluding others. Pertaining to Chell being a child when the Enrichment Center was taken over, being in for 'Bring Your Daughter to Work Day' (As evidenced by Chell's name being on the mutant potato plant); Chell will be the child of a Aperture employee, but this will be why she later goes to work for them; not why she got trapped in the first place. As far as the Events in Portal 2 itself goes, they will be ignored, since they essentially took place over 200 years after the events of Portal 1 putting it about 180 years past Half Life 2. However I will implement some of the dialogue that GLADoS said in the first phase of the game, as if they occurred in Portal 1. Cave Johnson will also squirm his way into the story. **

* * *

Half Life: A Grim Hope

* * *

Chapter 6: Morning

* * *

Chell was briskly walking down the halls of Aperture Science Enrichment Center. The prototypes for her new turret gun was nearing completion, she had come in just under budget for it but it was done ready to tear apart it's first light android that comes at it. She was heading back to her brand spanking new apartment in the building. Finally she wouldn't have to sleep on that glorified bedroll in the repair shop. She was finally considered a full employee. She was amused to find out that all research employees were required to wear a lab coat. So a rather large wrench was sticking out of the pocket of the lab coat. She stretched a moment before pulling out her key card. She slid the card through the slot and opened the door, it was dark, she sighed reaching into her hair and pulling the small rubber band keeping up her hair. She fluffed out her semi-long hair. She was ready to just lie down on bed and sleep.

She turned on the lights only to be met by a loud obnoxious noise from inside the apart. She opened her eyes to see Rhys sitting on her bed fingers in his ears with his normal smile on his face. Skye on the other hand was standing on the ground bagpipes in hand blowing into them with all his might, eyes clenched shut. Now over the past year Skye had been convincing her, slowly, that bagpipes were a beautiful instrument… when played correctly. Skye on the other hand, was a horrible musician and it was just unbearable when he played anything on that damn Scottish instrument. Chell marched over to Skye ears plugged by her index fingers going to the eye of the storm. Once she got to him, she quickly poked him in the throat, causing him to cough the final notes out of the pipes. Rhys let his fingers out of his ears chuckling at Chell's solution of the 'problem'.

Skye coughed out but managed to squeeze out a "Wel-come… ho-me" he said rubbing his throat sitting down on one of the chairs. Chell then noticed that both of her friends were wearing small party hats, classic Aperture Science design they forced all employees to wear on anyone's birthday. Were they… throwing her a house warming party? Despite herself a small smile appeared on her face.

Still it had been a long day and she was exhausted "Uh… sorry guys but it's been a long day and…"

Rhys put a hand out to stop her for a moment "Wait, wait, wait… before you say anything" he reached behind the bed out of Chell's sight. He pulled out an old looking bottle "Skye brought some scotch back with him, wanna drink?"

Chell looked at the bottle with longing, it had been a long time since she had a drink "Well… maybe one drink…" she said with a smile.

-1 Hour Later-

Chell Skye and Rhys were all smiling like idiots all sitting on her bed with an empty bottle between them. Skye had nearly handled almost three quarters of the bottle himself, still he was just above being buzzed. Rhys had a few himself and was pretty drunk. Chell had kept true to her word and only had the one drink, still she was the drunkest out of the three; what a lightweight. Skye must have been pretty out of it since he soon fell off the bed into a deep sleep. This left Rhys and Chell alone on the bed drunk off their ass.

Rhys sat silent for a while, the empty bottle clasped in his hand. Both Rhys and Chell were laughing hysterically at something neither of them quite remembers. Only that it had something to do with an elephant.

After a few minutes both of them were out of breath and forced to tone down their laughter or risk asphyxiation. Chell and Rhys stopped laughing for a moment and looked at each other. Both of their faces were filled with blood in a drunken stupor. A soft smile appeared on both of their lips curved into a smile.

Rhys scooted a bit closer to Chell "You know Chell… I'm really happy you're staying on"

Chell blushed somewhat at the comment but smiled "Thank you Rhys…" she brought her face a little bit closer "That means a lot…"

Their faces slowly drifted towards each other, eyes closed, lips just slightly open. Chell could feel the heat off of Rhys' face, her heart pounding out of her chest. Their lips were only a few milimet-

A voice took over the speaker, a very eerie robotic voice. It spoke calmly "_Hello Everyone. I have some excellent news."_

* * *

Chell bolted up on her mattress, breaking out in a sweat, eyes wide and fearful. She gave a look around trying to get her bearings. She glanced around wildly, the room was cold and made of cement random electrical parts scattered around. '_**Oh god, I'm back…No! No!**_' she started to curl up into a ball on her mattress, eyes wide open as tears started to stream down her face.

"Chell?"

'_**I can't do it, not again, I escaped, I fucking Escaped!**_'

"Chell…"

'_**Fuck… fuck... FUCK!**_'

"CHELL!" Chell was shocked out of her reverence and glanced to the voice. Crouching down next to her, a worried look on her face. Her tanned strong hand on her shoulder. Chell slowly felt herself calm down, taking deep breaths, looking shaken the hell up. Chell ran a hand through her own hair. '_**It's alright… It's alright… Alyx is here...**_' she closed her eyes in "Chell… is something wrong?" she asked concerned.

Chell took a deep breath, wiping her eyes before looking back at Alyx with a soft smile "Naw, I'm fine don't worry about it" she said standing up off the ground.

Alyx stood up, her arms crossed defiantly, her eye brow raised suspiciously "Oh, sorry I misspoke, what I meant to say is _what's wrong_?"

Chell sighed sadly looking to the ground for a moment before looking up at Alyx "Nothing… just thought I woke up from one nightmare, only to find myself in another" Alyx let her tough look fade from her face as she felt some sympathy for the pale skinned woman. Chell took a long look at Alyx. She realized that the usually tomboy was wearing almost nothing that day. She was wearing a pair of black cotton thigh length shorts and a black cotton tank top with a black mesa logo in white, exposing her entire midriff. Even her usually contained hair was missing its headband. A towel was casually slung across her shoulder. She actually seemed less dressed then she had been going to bed last night "Um… Alyx? What's with the skimpy outfit?" she said hoping to move off of the subject of her break down.

Alyx looked at her oddly, slightly confused by the comment, she looked down and realized what Chell had meant "Oh ya; this. Today is the women's turn to shower, I was just about to wake you up" she said rubbing the back of her head. "So come on now, get up, we got about five minutes" She said giving a light tap to Chell's shoulder.

Chell nodded slowly remembering. She started to get dressed in simple clothes as Alyx had put on. Alyx had told her how twice a week they had a shower day, it was basically a row of nozzles that spit out water for the entire. Chell wasn't exactly ecstatic about the experience. When she was in the Enrichment Center, one thing she promised to do when she got out was to get a nice steaming hot shower. From the look of things she wouldn't be getting that anytime soon. She didn't blame them for it, they gave her a home and food (although calling it food was generous). Still it was one of the many little disappointments Chell had experienced. No juicy steaks, no swimming in the ocean, No freedom for the human race. You know. The little things.

* * *

Chell walked alongside Alyx in the hallway. She wasn't as confident as Alyx was. She was wearing one of Alyx's knee length jeans and an oversized white t-shirt, the black mesa symbol going across the chest. The halls were largely abandoned, but as they drew closer to the shower room some more people walked around with them

Alyx going on about one of her many adventures about city 17. Chell always politely ignored whenever she seemed to stop mentioning one of her comrades midway through the story. No reason to dig up bad memories. She knew that all too well.

Everyone was approaching a large steel door, that seemed to have a wasp of cool air rushing out of it each time '_**My god… it's so cold it's a fog**_' Chell sighed feeling a chill go up her spine. This was going to be incredibly unpleasant. It was finally their turn to enter, Alyx shot her a small smile Chell gave her a odd look '_**What? What's she smiling about?**_'

Alyx opened the door to the shower room, a warm gust of air coming out. That's when Chell realized, it wasn't fog, it was steam! Alyx gestured for her to walk in first and Chell did so happily. Inside there were long rows of cubbies for everyone's clothes, Finally there were the showers, where hundreds of women were taking showers, suds falling off their bodies. It reminded Chell of High School showers. Alyx came in behind her looking at her with a small smirk on her face "Ha, the look on your face, what were you expecting? All of us throwing buckets of water on each other?"

'_**Yes**_' "No… but I didn't think you had the energy for hot water…" she said with a dose of honesty. '_**Wow… it's completely open, there's not even any stalls**_'.

Alyx chuckled at this, leading Chell towards her cubby "Chell, this is a Black Mesa's base for Europe. We have our own hydro electric generator. The one thing we always have in abundance is energy" she said with a chuckle. Chell nodded in understanding her eyes fixed upon all the steam in the room. Alyx started taking off what little clothing she had. Chell stood awkwardly blushing slightly, her hands clenching the bottom of her shirt nervously. Alyx soon noticed this and stared over at Chell for a moment looking concerned "Chell, come on, what are you waiting for?" Alyx saw the blush that was on her face and smiled "Chell… Are you nervous?" Chell, without answering looked away disdainfully "_You_ are!" she said unbelieving "Why? What do you have to be insecure about"

Chell blushed slightly before whispering in Alyx's ear, pulling back, Alyx stared at her for a moment then glanced down at her body. Chell waited for Alyx to nod her head in agreement '_**How can she not realize just how very-**_'

"Fat?" Alyx said incredulously. Chell nodded sadly "You… think your fat?" she repeated, Chell nodded looking around slightly annoyed that Alyx was speaking so loudly about it.

"Yes, now please…" she lowered her voice "be quiet"

Alyx just stared at her for a moment, glancing between Chells face and body, before just shaking her head "Ok. As much as I want to tell you… _all_ the reasons that's ridiculous, we don't have time for this" Alyx walked over grabbing the edges of Chell's baggy shirt and pulled it up despite her friends objections. She did the same with the shorts, pushing a mortified Chell towards the shower "I'm not gonna be shacked up with you unwashed for another week"

* * *

Alyx stood back watching Chell. They were both back at their little workshop/bedroom. She was getting dressed after they had returned to the showers. Alyx had her hands stuffed in her jeans looking sheepishly over at Chell "Seriously, are you going to just ignore me?" Chell remained silent, slipping into some of Alyx's cloths. An old Black Mesa T-shirt, and a pair of ripped blue jeans.

Alyx sighed looking over Chell's body. She still had no idea why the hell Chell thought she was fat. Even in the baggy clothes she was wearing, the cloth gripped her curves rather nicely. The jeans especially, they really complemented her bu-…

Alyx shook her head '_**Wait… What am I thinking?**_' "Please Chell?" she asked pushing off from the wall she was leaning against.

Chell looked back at Alyx, her eyes half open in a slight scowl while tying her hair in a ponytail "When's the mission?" she asked indifferently,Chell picked up her jacket getting ready to put it coat was an adapted version of her old Aperture science test subject jumpsuit. It was cut just below the waist so it covered her butt the almost torn beyond repair buttons replaced by a zipper. "C'mon Chell, talk to me" Alyx was once again cold shouldered.

"What? Alyx asked confused.

"The mission, you said you wanted my help bringing supplies into Ravenholm. When are we leaving?" she asked coldly.

"I don' know, a couple hours, like 1:00?" Alyx shrugged mostly a suggestion, the supplies just had to get out that day, it didn't really matter when.

Chell nodded "Okay. I'll see you then" she said walking towards the door.

Alyx looked at her oddly. Where could she go? Alyx was the only person she'd really talked to other than Skye since arriving at B.M.E. "What? Where are you going to go?"

Chell grabbed the handle of the door, "I'm gonna go work on a new invention" she opened the door.

Alyx put on a weak smile "W-well wait a minute. Everything you need it right-" Slam "… here…" Alyx rubbed the back of her head, just staring at the door "…Damn…"

* * *

Alyx walked through the halls of Black Mesa East, hands stuffed in her pockets, going over her head what could have gone wrong. '_**Maybe she's just really shy or something...**_' Alyx sighed, she had been wandering around aimlessly for almost an hour now; she had briefly talked with a few of her squad mates but otherwise had been wandering alone. '_**I mean, she didn't seem uncomfortable around me but... damn it all**_' This was a new situation for Alyx. She had always had friends and squad mates. But they were usually older then her and everyone treated her with a bit of distance. Alyx was Eli's daughter, so most people treated her like the post-apocalyptic first daughter. Besides Barney, Kleiner, and a few of the other Black Mesa survivors, she was always treated like she was on a pedestal. Even her squad-mates treated her with a distance since she was the captain, always made soldiers nervous to talk one on one with their superiors; or. At least that's what her father told her. So if she got into a fight with any of them it wasn't that big of a deal; they'd just avoid each other for a while then begrudgingly accept an apology. Chell though. Chell treated her with a kindness she hadn't felt, she didn't care that Eli was the leader of the resistance, or is she did she didn't show it. Whenever anyone tried to mess with her, she would never hide behind Alyx as a shielf (though she did scold her if she didn't back her up). She never tried to use her like others did occasionally '_**Well except for food... but that's only cause no one wants to give her food because her relationship with Skye...**_' It was the first time she had a really good friend who was close to her age, a best friend even. And it sucked to be in a fight with her.

Soon she realized she was in the 'Cell Block' of Black Mesa East, which usually served as a place to throw anyone who got too drunk, but for once actually had a prisoner inside it. '_**Hmmm… maybe she went to talk to Skye… worth a shot****...**_' Alyx walked to the end of the hall where Skye was being held.

Alyx poked her head in, looking around "Chell? Chell are you in here?" she said walking inside.

A high pitched voice came in "_Oh yes dear, right over here!_" Alyx, surprised by any response looked at where the voice came from, all she ended up seeing was Skye, sitting cross-legged behind his plasma cage, mimicking, poorly, a British woman's accent "_Aren't you just darling~_" he said, laughing his ass off, falling onto his back.

Alyx looked around nervously, not wanting to meet Skye's gaze "Oh… Skye… I didn't know you'd be here…" Skye looked at her with a straight face, looking at her like she was an idiot. He started tapping on the plasma wall in front of him. He then got a smirking smile on his face.

"Well, ya know, I was going to go get some coffee earlier, bu-"

"Oh shut up!" Alyx said cutting him off and annoyed tone to her voice, slowly she gazed around the room "so… is Chell here?" she asked her tone suddenly diplomatic.

"No", he said simply going back to a book in his hand "You just missed her though, she just left about fifteen minutes ago," he said, gesturing towards the door.

"Really? What she talk about?" she asked curious.

"Oh she was going over her schematics for some new invention she wants to make, she was really irritable though; tried to ask her about it, but then she just snarled at me so I stayed away from the topic" he looked up a curious look on his face "You know who pissed her off?" he asked looking up at her. Alyx looked down guiltily rubbing her arm, "Oh… _oh!_… it was _you?_" he said with a grin on his face. Alyx blushed out of embarrassment "Wow Alyx, I haven't seen here that mad in a long time… you must of screwed up royal" he said with a chuckle.

Alyx glared at the Scotsman for a few seconds before sighing "Yea I think I did…" she said with a heavy sigh. She whispered under her breath bitterly "I don't even know what I did wrong"

Skye nodded slightly "Ya that will happen with Chell..." he said stretching a bit on the ground "she's a shy n' sensitive one"

Alyx looked at him unbelieving "Shy? Sensitive? I saw her deck a guy a couple nights ago for trying to hit on her!" she said a slight chuckle in her voice, enjoying the memory somewhat. The guy she hit was a pig and frankly deserved it "Then calmly started a conversation with me while she continued to kick him on the ground"

"Oh, don't get me wrong" Skye said almost laughing uncontrollably "If you're a stranger and try to mess with her, she will flatten you out like a pancake"

"Exactly!" Alyx insisted.

"But. She puts a lot of faith and trust in her friends, and if she feels betrayed… well…" he rolled his eyes "Hell hath no fury that Chell can't match"

"That's not how the saying goes"

"I know" he said seriously

Alyx shook her head annoyed "Okay… well how did you get her to stop hating you?"

Skye gasped, placing a hand on his chest "Why! I never" he said sounding insulted "Why would… _Assume _I have _Ever_ made Chell mad?" Alyx just stared at him blankly, after a moment or two Skye nodded in agreement "Ok, sure, fair enough, here's what you do" he actually decided to stand up. Only then could you tell the toll his stay at Black Mesa East had taken on him. His legs were shaky, it was obviously a pain for him to use his muscles. Even after a week of battering by top resistance interrogators he still stood tall. In a way Alyx respected the man. And not out of fear as she once had. He had taken nearly a week solid of close to no food and horrible beatings, and he was still smiling and joking the same way he was when they first crashed down into Black Mesa East. Whatever they made those crazy bastards at Aperture out of, it was strong stuff. "First you need gummy bears, she's a sucker for them, puts her in a good mood, no matter what the situation"

"Where the hell am I going to get gummy bears?" she thought for a moment "What the hell are gummy bears?" she said shaking her head a bit.

Skye stared at her with unbelieving eyes. "Okay, scratch the worms… ok this is gonna get a lot more complicated" he scratched the back of his head, Alyx just stared at him dumb founded '_**That. was his big plan…Somehow I'm not surprised**_' Skye sat down again looking disinterested "Well that was always my Ace to get back into her good graces"

"So what the hell am I supposed to do?" Alyx demanded impatient with the Scotsman.

Skye shrugged "Honestly? Apologize, and pray she don't shut you out... or kill you"

* * *

Alyx came walking down the passage way to Ravenholm, it used to be just a little crawlspace to the surface, but they had expanded it to allow the resources from the mines to flow in for the resistance. There were a few people moving about the cemented cavern. Alyx strode with her usual air of strength, feeling far more confident after her talk with Skye. She had her newly modified gun at her hip, along with her hacking device and a couple of adrenaline syringes in her belt. She didn't really expect anything to go wrong but as the old saying goes 'Better to be safe then shot'.

She came to the lift, the main entrance into Ravenholme, there was a metal rung ladder nearby, used back when it was still just a crawl space of an entrance, but it wasn't in use anymore. Standing alone, leaning against the lift, looking bored as ever, was Chell. Her fingers tapped, one after the other in a rolling motion. Her look was distant and troubled. She had a small pistol on her side; standard issue for all resistance soldiers. Sheathed across her back was the portal gun; not so standard issue for resistance soldiers. As Alyx approached, Chell finally seemed to come out of her daze and looked up at Alyx. At first her gaze was soft, even a smile pierced her lips. Then she seemed to remember something and started to scowl once again.

"Hey Chell…" Alyx said approaching, giving a slight wave.

Chell pushed off from the wall "Alyx." she said coldly "Let's get going" she walked into the wooden elevator compartment, it was just big enough to hold the two of them with a little bit of elbow room between them.

Chell somehow figured out how to meld with the wooden walls, forcing herself as far away from Alyx as possible. After a few seconds the elevator started to jerk upward, it wasn't all that smooth since the little elevator was man operated, using a wench at the top to pull up the little wooden capsule. You had to hold onto the handle bars to avoid bumping into each other as each jolt shook the little crate.

Alyx took a deep breath gathering her thoughts '_**Okay, she obviously still hates me… Maybe I should wait to apologize till later today, when she's not so mad**_' suddenly the elevator dropped a few feet without warning. Both Alyx and Chell looked at each other nervously. Alyx looked up the rocky shaft "Hey! What Gives?"

The voice was of a middle aged man, it was friendly but nervous "Uh… yea, one of the ropes fer the elvater snapped. But Dun worry, we'll have it fixed soon, jus hold tight"

Chell stepped forward towards the optional ladder "Well, we can just use the ladder if it's too big of a-"

It seemed that Alyx and the man both spoke in unison "NO!"

Chell's hand bolted back away from the ladder "What?" she said almost losing her cool exterior.

There was a bit of silence then the man's voice spoke up "Ya hear of Coma Joe?" Chell's eyes went wide turning to Alyx for confirmation

Alyx grimaced a bit before gesturing towards the rusty ladder "This is where… he got that… name" she said a bit sadly

Chell nodded, backing the two feet available in the compartment to get away from the ladder. The voice piped up again, happily informing the two girls "Don't worry, we'll git ya both out in'a jiffy"

Both Alyx and Chell sighed. They stood still in the little compartment of an elevator that seemed to getting smaller and smaller every second. '_**Well... might as well take a shot at it while were trapped here...**_' "Hey Chell? I'm really sorry about this morning you know" Chell, who had been avoiding eye contact up until now actually faced Alyx "I shouldn't have undressed you, that must have been embarrassing" she said trying to be diplomatic. Chell nodded staying quiet for a long while. Alyx bit her lip waiting for her response "Well, that's all I had to say… so at least now we can walk away and not see each other for a few hours" Alyx gave a quick look around the wooden box "Oh… right." She said with a chuckle before looking back at Chell, a small smile on her face.

Chell looked at her for a moment before letting out a sigh "It… wasn't… _all _your fault" she admitted "I just felt nervous to have to shower… with everyone…" she rolled her eyes muttering curses under her lip, her face blushing a bit "I just feel… _insecure_ about my body alright, so it's fine. We're cool" she said crossing her arms over her chest. The tone in her voice was still angry, and Alyx knew it.

'_**Ok… I could settle for that, or I could risk it all**_'"Ya I still don't get why you feel like that" '_**Let's go all in**_'

"Feel like what?"

"Insecure. About your weight. I don't see it" Alyx shrugged

"Come on Alyx, look at me" she said just pointing at her body like that explained it.

"I am" Alyx took the moment to look then smirk "Twigs are envious"

"Alyx, don't li-"

"I'm not lying!" Alyx took a short step forward causing the whole casket to rock. The old mans voice once again came from above

"Hey! Stop that, you'll be dropped if you keep that up!"

"Sorry Frank" Alyx yelled up. She returned her view to Chell "Seriously Chell, you look great" Alyx said, leaning back against her side of the wooden crate.

Chell seemed to take a moment to look at herself before saying weakly "I was out for a long time, I'm out of shape"

Alyx started to speak, counting off each phrase "Chell. You outran away from a resistance patrol. You killed a Combine soldier using a wrench! Chell… You ran jumped and hurdled over a third of City 17. I don't know many others who could do that _without_ bullets in their chest" Alyx said with a smile, looking up into Chell's eyes "Your incredibly fit, and beautiful Chell" Alyx got a light blush on her face realizing just what she said, she looked away from her friend "So you know, don't be so insecure" Alyx said a bit flustered.

Chell seemed to be unaware of her friends dilemma and nodded, smiling again "Wow… thanks Alyx" she said her voice uplifted and friendly once more

Alyx mumbled out a 'your welcome' from under her breath. Above Frank's voice came down again "Wow Alyx… That's got to be the sweetest thing you've ever said"

Alyx blushed somewhat yelling up at the shaft angrily shaking her fist in the air "Just fix the damn elevator!"

_**Chapter 6 End**_

* * *

**WOW that took a while to post huh? Sorry about that, hit a serious case of writers block for this fic. But after playing Portal 2 and getting a very nice review from Sereth Erethal I was inspired to continue this. **

**Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. I felt like a look at an average morning there might be interesting, feel free to disagree however. **

**Next chapter we enter Ravenholm ^_^**

**Please Review**

**P.S. If anyone did fan art of Chell in my outfit, it'd loves yous forever's.  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**Warning: I do not own Half Life or Portal except for the copies I own. It is owned by the Valve Corporation.**

**(The following statement may contain spoilers from Portal 2, if you don't want to know, please just continue onto the story)**

**Authors Note : After studying some of the new backstory revealed in Portal 2 I realize I cannot bring everything in effectively. I have decided to incorporate some things while excluding others. Pertaining to Chell being a child when the Enrichment Center was taken over, being in for 'Bring Your Daughter to Work Day' (As evidenced by Chell's name being on the mutant potato plant); Chell will be the child of a Aperture employee, but this will be why she later goes to work for them; not why she got trapped in the first place. As far as the Events in Portal 2 itself goes, they will be ignored, since they essentially took place over 200 years after the events of Portal 1 putting it about 180 years past Half Life 2. However I will implement some of the dialogue that GLaDOS said in the first phase of the game, as if they occurred in Portal 1. Cave Johnson will also squirm his way into the story. **

* * *

Half Life: A Grim Hope

* * *

Chapter 7: Quiet Little Town

* * *

Alyx and Chell made their way through town. It was a somewhat gloomy day out, but the sun poked out through the clouds at some points, illuminating the earth below. Chell was looking around in amazement. It was the first time she had been outside when she was not running for her life or bleeding to death since she escaped from the Aperture Science Enrichment Center. The entire town was pretty peaceful. They were still cramped, about 6 people to a house; just like in the underground but everyone seemed happier up here. Laundry hung from lines that stretched across the streets. There were still no children however. It was a bit of a disappointment for Chell. She had always enjoyed playing with kids, they were like dogs… only you know _pleasant_. It seemed like Alyx wasn't lying, the combine had effectively neutered the entire human population. Still people were smiling up here, and for the most part, didn't scowl at her like she was a stain that needed getting rid of. The town was over grown to be sure. There were as many building made of scrap metal as there were made of wood. There was a sense of community here… A sense of hope. '_**It's so calm and peaceful, everyone underground seem so tense and on edge… but here… I could live here…**_'

Chell felt her arm get sore, she looked back at the cart she was dragging behind her. It was filled with all sorts of supply crates, and they were heavy as hell. '_**Damn it… why the hell do I have to pull this thing? Maybe I could ask Alyx again… just more diplomatically**_' "Damn it why the hell do I have to pull this thing?" Chell asked her voice horsed just a bit.

Alyx looked back with a smile "Cause your new meat, which means you're up for the grunt work" she said with a smug sense of superiority just to bug Chell.

Chell switched to her right hand, her left arm feeling numb beyond all reason "Still aren't there any guys around here more suited to this stuff?" she suggested annoyed.

Alyx stopped for a moment looking back at Chell with a look of confusion and somewhat disappointment "Chell… I never suspected you of being so…" she sighed at the end "traditional"

Chell continued to drag the cart behind her, gritting her teeth speaking between breaths as they moved up hill a bit "Not… Traditional…. Just…. Lazy!" She stated, with determination pulling the cart up a brisk hill.

Alyx chuckled at the comment walking next to Chell "Really now? So did Rhys help you out with this stuff back at Aperture?" Chell started to laugh uncontrollably, using her free hand to hold her side, unable to advance any farther. Alyx stared at her for a moment with a look of confusion on her face "What? What's so funny?"

Chell stopped laughing for a moment before continuing her march up the hill "Ohoho… don't get me wrong, Rhys was a great guy, but he wasn't really all that strong" she chuckled "If there was anything I couldn't handle, I'd just bribe Skye into helping me" she said with a shrug

"You'd bribe him?"

"Bribe, blackmail, guilt trip. Whatever worked really" she said casually

Alyx chuckled at the e"So Rhys was kind of a wimp huh?"

"Well, kinda, when he got really got into it he was a decent mad scientist" she chuckled "He once made an AI with no other purpose than to make insidious comments about the people around it; he hid it in the air vent of the executive office's" she laughed "pissed off management a great deal"

"He didn't get fired?"

"Oh they did, he just threatened to have it hardwired into the intercom system,they claimed he was bluffing and canned him" she said a small smile coming on her lips "he set it off remotely, they hired him back within a week" she chuckled a bit at the memory "He had a weird sense of humor like that, he'd go from completely docile to an eerie calm; scheming some new revenge plot against whoever pissed him off that week" Chell kept smiling happily for a moment but then it got a little sad "I wonder what happened to him…" Chell kept trudging along for a bit a small frown coming over her face.

Alyx got a look of sympathy on her face looking at Chell. After a few moments she grabbed the grip of the carts handle and gave a small smile over to Chell "Here, let me take the load for a while"

* * *

After a little bit Chell and Alyx entered the much more industrialized part of town, factory buildings stretched into the sky, looking barely active in its present state, only a few smoke stacks actually billowing out smoke. Alyx looked proudly to the sky "Yea, we finally got those up and running again, making ammunition for the resistance" she said with some happiness in her voice, finally stopping the cart next to a metal staircase of the factory "Okay, let's get these boxes unloaded"

Chell looked over hope in her eyes "We're dropping them off here?"

"What? Oh no, were bringing them to the Church" she pointed to a white building that sat atop a cliff "It's just beyond that building up there"

"Up there? How the hell are we gonna get them up there?" she asked already dreading the answer.

"Well, we have this lift that goes up to the balcony up there" she pointed up to a platform above the factory "put the boxes in, and release it to go back to the other side, then we'll carry them to the church from there"

"We're carrying each box up those stairs individually, and then put them on that little lift? That will take hours!" Chell whined slightly.

"Yep" Alyx shrugged " so we better get started" she said grabbing one of the boxes from the cart.

Chell looked up at their destination and shook her head "Yea… screw that noise" with that she retrieved her Portal Gun from her back-holster, quickly firing an orange portal into one of the lower walls of the building, following it up with a blue portal right at her feet. A few of the passing by citizens gasped at this. Chell pretty much ignored this and started throwing boxes in.

Alyx watched her go, somewhat stunned "Ch-Chell, what are you doing"

Without stopping for a moment, Chell answered her throwing another box in "Thinking with portals" she stated simply. After the seventh box she walked over to Alyx and took the box she was holding. Walked to the edge of the hole, leaned herself parallel to the portal so she would be upright as she entered the other side. Chell dropped the last box on the ground before calling to Alyx "Come on Alyx, it's ok! Come on through!"

Alyx walked to the edge of the portal looking down into it a nervous knot in her stomach. She had used the portal before to catch Chell back when they first met, but that was on impulse and without thinking. Suddenly jumping into a rift in the universe sounded… idiotic "Are you sure it's safe?" she asked worried.

Chell was silent for a moment as if contemplating just how dangerous it was. Then called out "No not at all actually, it's all a trick, I'm really dead on this side" Chell poked her head into the portal view to stare up/over at her "Now come on, let's finish this gig and get back home"

Alyx nodded nervously, taking a deep breath and stepping into the portal, not sure how else to do it. "A-a-a-AHHHH!" She felt a sudden unease as gravity shifted on her, tripping over herself as she exited the other side of the portal. As she was about to fall to the ground, Chell caught her in her arms to prevent her from dropping to the ground. Alyx got a slight embarrassed blush at being so clumsy in front of Chell.

Chell had a soft smile on her face "Ya, the first few times it can get really disorienting" She stood Alyx back up "So, let's get things going eh?"

"Y-yea, sure let's get these boxes to…" she stopped for a moment looking around for a moment her look suddenly very serious "Do… Do you hear something Chell?" her voice had gotten serious, and worried.

Chell looked at her strangely for a moment giving a close listen. She tried her best to exclude all the static noise that came with nature. She still hadn't gotten used to all of it, but still, she couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary "No… why Alyx… what' s wrong?" Chell asked worried, feeling panic start to stick to her bones.

Alyx gave a look to the sky and shook her head "No… No… just got this weird feeling. Don't worry about it" she hauled up one of the many crates that had been haphazardly been thrown aside by Chell's little portal act. "Come on, let's just deliver these things and get out of here"

Chell nodded, pressing a button on the portal gun to close both the rifts in space "Yea sure thing Alyx" Chell picked up a box and started to walk alongside Alyx, staring into the sky with a new found sense of doom.

As the two of them walked the small path cut out of the mountain Chell couldn't help but realize just how useful this path would be to ambush the combine if they ever did invade Ravenholm. The entire place was really quite pleasant. You know. In a 'last hope for humanity' sort of way. It might be nice to set up a little mechanic shop up here, fix whatever little things the town's people needed help with '_**It would be a nice change of pace from being trapped underground**_' "So Alyx, you ever think about moving up here?" she asked off handedly.

"Eh… a couple of times" she shrugged "But my father is down in Black Mesa East you know, so's all my squad mates, just inconvenient you know" she said staring back as the two of them approached the graveyard.

Chell briskly shrugged off her previous thought '_**Eh… it would have gotten boring up here anyways… Besides, Skye would find a way to haunt me, despite still being alive**_' Chell continued to carry the box as if she was determined to do it all along "Ya I get it, come on, I have some cool designs I want to show you when we get back"

"Really now?" Alyx said interested "Well I'd be happy to go over them with you Chell, it'd be nice to have something to work on besides D0G"

Chell looked over with a smile "You have a Dog?" she said with mild distaste. It wasn't that Chell hated dogs, but… well ya she hated dogs '_**They slobber all over the place. They chew up wires and drink motor oil, then your friend gets pissy when their fluffbag dies**_'

"Well Kinda, you better just see for yourself once we get back" Alyx said with a bit of excitement in her voice. It wasn't often she got to show off D0G to someone unless they just wanted to use him for some suicide mission. "I think you'll like him" They finally got to the door of the church, which had been built into the hillside for defensive purposes. There were a decent amount of people there, some there for the church, a good deal were just workers for the mine who were taking a break. Alyx knocked against the church door, the sound of a few door locks hit in an out before the door opened. Standing there was a stout man, bald with a thick beard, wearing an orthodox Christian necklace made of gold. The clothing he wore were simple, but not priestly garb. A blue sweater covering a white shirt, all under a blue overcoat.

"Welcome!" he said opening his arms, welcoming a hug from Alyx, who obliged kindly "Ah Alyx, it's good to see you again" he said in a deeply Slavic voice. He looked over at Chell with curiosity in his eyes "Ah… Now who is this? I don't believe I've seen you around the streets of Ravenholm before now…." He said thinking deeply as if trying to remember her.

Alyx looked back at Chell a soft smile on her face "Oh, Father Grigori, this is Chell Legends", she's a new friend of mine, just got out of the city last week"

Father Grigori got a wide smile on his lips "Ahahaha! So this is the famous Chell Legends"

Chell looked at him confused "You… Know of me?" Chell asked surprised she had never been described as famous before. Infamous sure, but not famous.

"Sure, theres a many rumors floating around about you, they call you the demon tamer, described you as some kind of witch dressed in white" He said with a heavy laugh "No one in five years had been able to calm down Skye"

Chell became slightly downhearted at the names she had been given but became interested when he mentioned Skye by name "You know Skye? Skye MacDonald?" she said as if to confirm the man hadn't misspoken.

Alyx became interested as well "Yea Father… You knew him?"

Grigori nodded sadly "Yes… Poor boy. He came to me for advice, confiding rather… disturbing thoughts he had been having… he had a very damaged soul, and I've been meaning to go down to see how he's been… but I'm glad he's back on the side of men, thank you for that" he said with a real sense of gratitude in his voice.

Chell smiled at the praise, glad that someone else had seen the good in Skye.

"Well, come in then I'll heat up some tea… It's little better then heated bark, but it'll do you good" the man said waving the two of them in.

* * *

It was a calm day in Ravenholm. In the Graveyard the men enjoyed well earned coffee from their work in the mines. A group of men were in a circle, discussing the same old stories from before the cascade, reciting all the same old jokes, as if trying to briefly forget their troubles. No one ever told anything new, or if they did it was just because they messed up the names of the story they told before. But no one ever interrupted, everyone just smiled, listened, and waited their turn to tell their story.

Then out of the calm came a low bellowing noise, most ignored it at first, going about their business without much mind. But the noise grew; it came to encompass the entire mouth of the mine. Any of the miners near the entrance backed away, weary of the sudden bellow. If it was another explosion it wouldn't have taken this long.

Soon dashing out of the entrance to the mine, first by ones, but then by groups were men, scores of men, running and screaming their heads off. One of the veteran miners took one of the panicking men by the arm, demanding what was going on.

"The Combine, the faucking combine are flooding the mines with head crabs, they're everywhere!" with that he shook his arm loose and kept running

The veteran minor gathered his will, and his men, yelling at all of them "OK men, let's seal up the mine! We can't let these things get into town.

That's when it came. All the men looked to the sky, an eerie calm, succeeded by the unmistakable whistle of missiles, hurtling themselves towards earth. All of them slamming to the ground with a slamming with bravado, hideous screams came from the town as the head crabs began to spring from their capsules

The veteran miner stared up and for a few brief seconds saw a small black dot approach him rapidly.

Then he never saw anything again.

_**Chapter 7 End**_

* * *

**And one more down, bit of a quicker update from the last one eh?**

**Hope this was alright, setting it up for the rest of the chapter. If it wasn't clear before now, this is the story behind Ravenholm's destruction. **

**Thanks for the few who left reviews and came to read this fic, I appreciate it.**

**To PotterPhantomKitten, I see your point, however, I do not believe it is truly a crossover since Portal and Half Life takes place in the same universe.**

**Remember to review everyone, it's like writing fuel for me  
**


End file.
